Epilobium angustifolium, or as we know it, fireweed.  This is one of my favorite wildflowers.  It is invasive, but in a polite way, and fireweed plays an essential ecological role.  It is one of the first to reestablish an area after soil disturbance, particularly by fire.   Its tall stalks of bright pink flowers are often seen against a background of blackened tree trunks, creating a startling contrast.

This native, abliet invasive, species plays a vital ecological function.  Fireweed are determined plants whose roots stabilize the soil and begin the process of storing nutrients.  Their leaves retain soil moisture and provide shade for less tolerant plants.   With its fibrous roots and ability to thrive in direct sunlight, fireweed is well suited to such harsh conditions as a post-fire landscape or a landslide.

The pink flowers have a deceptively fragile appearance, yet I have seen it thriving from valley floor  all the way up to a surprising encounter above 10,000 feet in the Wind River Range.  At that elevation it is understandably far more submissive in stature, measuring about 12 inches.  I’ve seen it growing in the far north mountains of Mongolia, and along roads in Estonia, where it was a daunting 4-5 feet tall,  Upon seeing it in a far away land, I exclaimed in amazement as if seeing an old friend.  My companion, a British woman, said she knew the plant as willowherb and explained that for many years after WWII, when flying over the English countryside in summer one could identify the bomb sites as bright pink spots in the landscape. 

In the fall fireweed contributes to the general autumn theme by turning a deep burgundy.  There is a particularly stunning slope on Togwotee Pass covered entirely in this brilliant color.  As a primary succession species, it will at some point do its job and create an environment for the successful establishment of grasses, aspen, and conifer. In the meantime, I enjoy that swath of fireweed in all seasons.  -Ellen Vanuga