FIREWEED Epilobium angustifolium

Description: Plant

2 - 7 feet tall, leafy stems; narrow, pointed leaves, arranged spirally, dark green above, light green below; many showy, bright purple flowers, four-petalled, blooming from bottom to top of stem over a period of several weeks.

Habitat:

Along streams, along slopes, lakeshores, burn areas.

Uses:

This beautiful plant is good to eat. The young shoots and leaves are good in salads. Larger young shoots are good steamed as a substitute for aspara­gus. The sweet, succulent inner pith is also a popular treat. Split the stalk down the side with your thumbnail and scrape the juicy, inner tissue with your teeth. The dried leaves make a nice tea, reported to be mildly sedative (Viereck). The flowers, because of their bright color, are good for potpourri. In Europe the herb is a botanical in demand.

Special Harvest or Processing Comments:

Gather leaves when they are young, before the plant flowers. When gathering flowers, be careful to keep the long, slender seedpods out as they will break open and spew their white fluff into your flowers after they are dried. You can gather these flowers quickly, but they must be dried right away to preserve their color.