Chamaenerion latifolium

(L.) Sweet

Dwarf fireweed, River beauty willowherb

Onagraceae 10,770 iNaturalist observations

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Summary

Chamaenerion latifolium (formerly Epilobium latifolium, also called Chamerion latifolium) is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the English common names dwarf fireweed and river beauty willowherb. It has a circumboreal distribution, appearing throughout the northern regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including alpine, sub-Arctic, and Arctic areas such as snowmelt-flooded gravel bars and talus, in a wide range of elevations. This is a perennial herb growing in clumps of leaves variable in size, shape, and texture above a woody caudex. The leaves are 1 to 10 centimeters long, lance-shaped to oval, pointed or rounded at the tips, and hairy to hairless and waxy. The inflorescence is a rough-haired raceme of nodding flowers with bright to deep pink, and occasionally white, petals up to 3 centimeters long. Behind the opened petals are pointed sepals. The fruit is an elongated capsule which may exceed 10 centimeters in length. In the Arctic, this plant provides valuable nutrition for the Inuit, who eat the leaves raw, boiled with fat, or steeped in water for tea, the flowers and fruits raw, and as a salad with meals of seal and walrus blubber. The leaves and shoots are edible, tasting much like spinach, and is also known in the Canadian tundra as River Beauty. It is the national flower of Greenland with the Greenlandic name niviarsiaq ("young girl").

Description

A perennial herb with a woody stem and clump of variable leaves (1-10 cm long, sword-shaped or oval) native to the Onagraceae family. It produces rough-haired nodding flowers and elongated capsule fruits (10 cm long).

Edible Uses

The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. The flowers and fruit can be used in salads.

Traditional Uses

The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. The flowers are fruit can be used in salads.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Where It Grows

Leaves,

Other Information

Onagraceae

Notes

A herb. It has a woody stem and a clump of leaves. It keeps growing from year to year. The leaves vary in size and shape. They are 1-10 cm long and can be sword shaped or oval. The flowers are a rough haired group of nodding flowers. The fruit is a capsule 10 cm long.