Fireweed

Epilobium augustifolium

COMMON NAMES

• Blood Vine
• Blooming Sally
• Flowering Willow
• Fireweed
• Purple Rocket
• Willow Herb

Fireweed - perennial plant, 28 in to 5 ft (70 cm to 1.5 m) in height and with large purple flowers. The fruit, a brown capsule open at both ends, releases oval seeds.

Anyone driving past the scene of a recent forest fire is likely to glimpse brilliant magenta blooms rising high above the blackened earth. The plant they see is fireweed, which gets its name from the fact that it thrives in burned over or disturbed land. In fact, soon after bombs devastated London during World War II, fireweed sprang up in the heart of the city, where it had not been seen for generations. Newly excavated sites and ditches will often be filled with the plant, but fireweed also does well in rich, moist soil, and favors upland regions such as the Rocky Mountains.

A native of North America as well as Europe, fireweed was employed medicinally as an antispasmodic: its roots and leaves were made into an infusion to treat asthma, whooping cough, and hiccups. The dried leaves were also used as a demulcent (soothing to the mucous membranes) and an astringent.

Fireweed's greatest benefit to man, however, is as a food. Many Indian tribes ate the young shoots or cooked the pith of the stems as soup, and they and others used the leaves as a potherb. French Canadians esteem fireweed so highly they call it asperge, or "asparagus." Both the young flower stalks and the leaves can serve as salad ingredients.

PARTS USED

Aerial parts.

USES

Demulcent and astringent, fireweed treats diarrhea, mucous, colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome. It has also been made into an ointment to soothe skin problems in children. Fireweed has been used in Germany and Austria to treat prostate problems.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Fireweed is found in North America and Europe. Fireweed grows in moist areas, ditches, recently burned areas in wet forests and along rivers.

CONSTITUENTS

Fireweed contains tannins, mucilages, pectin, potassium, beta-sitosterol, bioflavonoids.

APPLICATIONS

The young shoots can be eaten in soup or steamed, or, in the case of diarrhea, a decoction. So as not to lose any of the plant properties, use a mother tincture: 1 part fireweed to 2 parts alcohol: take 10 drops, 2 times daily. It treats diarrhea and gastritis.
Epilobium augustifolium: skin disorders.
Epilobium parviflorum: prostate problems.

PROSTATE DECOCTION

• 1 oz (30 g) tiny-flowered fireweed flowery tops
• 1 oz (30 g) mallow flowery tops
• 1 oz (30 g) wild thyme flowery tops
• 1 oz (30 g) nettle leaves
• 1 oz (30 g) dandelion roots
• 4 cups (1 liter) water

Combine all the fresh plants and place in the water. Simmer for 5 minutes. Infuse for 30 minutes, then strain. Drink the entire amount during the day. In the case of serious infection, extend this treatment for 1 to 2 months.
This decoction cleanses the kidneys and treats chronic infections of the prostate and bladder.

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