We have a lawn, but also a bark-chip area in front of our house. During a season, I let parts of it grow more or less freely: some very colourful blooms populate it.<\/p>\n
Yesterday my wife asked about the “fluffiness” of some flowers in the bark chip area. I told her it didn’t surprise me; though I’d never paid particular attention, it seemed ordinary. Most of the flowers are already gone, but a few pink ones remain. The plant grows straight up, over a metre tall.<\/p>\n
Today, I decided to identify that plant, then decide if, indeed, the fluffiness is normal. I picked up the field guide and outside I went, first examining the plant, then sitting back in a lawn chair scanning the guide’s pages for it.<\/p>\n
I wouldn’t have guessed it to be of the evening primrose family, yet, voil\u00e0: \u00a0it’s unmistakably fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium<\/em>, aka Rosebay Willowherb), an evening primrose member. \u00a0The guide reports it common in disturbed areas (which our bark chip area is, since I rake it a few times annually), and up to 3m tall – once again, correct.<\/p>\n The flowers, it reports, are found in clusters atop the the stem. \u00a0They have groups of 4 petals and 4 sepals. \u00a0The remaining fruit is just the “stalk” that supported the flower; it might be a little more purple and a little enlarged. \u00a0According to the guide, it opens to release “hundreds of fluffy, white seeds” – hence the fluffiness.<\/p>\n Hikers can picture this erect herb, up to 3m tall, with green, lance-shaped leaves below, and pink inflorescence above. \u00a0The guide points out its commonness on railroads – not that we have many of those locally. \u00a0It’s also common on old burn sites, leading to its name.<\/p>\n HTH:)<\/p>\n Source:<\/p>\n Pojar, Jim and Andy MacKinnon. Plants of Coastal British Columbia<\/u>. Vancouver:
BC Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing, 1994.<\/p>\n