Fireweed

Chamaenerion angustifolium

Hosts 6 caterpillarsBird foodPollinator plant

Growing it

When	Flowers July to August; fruits August to September
Type	wildflower
Sun	Full sun, partial shade
Water	Low, medium
Soil	pH 5.5–7
Hardiness	zone 2–7
Mature height	1.5 m
Mature spread	0.75 m
Spacing	0.5 m
Years to maturity	2
Bloom	Jul–Aug
Flower colour	Pink not verified, a genus-level estimate
In bloom	July August
Fruit	Aug–Sep
Native to	AB, SK

lance-shaped leaves about 15 cm long

Where it has been recorded

BothSpecimensObservations

455 squares of about 28 km, each holding at least one record. A square is not a claim that the plant grows throughout it, and an unshaded square is unrecorded rather than empty. Darker squares hold more records, which follows roads and towns as much as it follows the plant. 84 herbarium specimens and 1,768 field observations this project may redraw. A filled dot is a pressed sheet somebody can re-examine; a hollow ring is a photograph identified by community agreement. Where the dots are dense is where people have looked, not where the plant is commonest, and empty ground is unsurveyed rather than unoccupied. How this map is made.

Which ecoregions the records fall in

Aspen Parkland central AB / SK: 897 records, high confidence
Eastern Continental Ranges central AB: 642 records, high confidence
Northern Continental Divide south AB: 557 records, high confidence
Western Alberta Upland central AB: 325 records, high confidence
Boreal Transition central AB / SK: 218 records, high confidence
Mid-Boreal Uplands central AB / SK: 161 records, high confidence
Cypress Upland south AB / SK: 107 records, high confidence
Fescue Grassland south AB: 96 records, high confidence
Peace Lowland north AB: 68 records, high confidence
Moist Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 61 records, high confidence
Wabasca Lowland north AB: 47 records, high confidence
Slave River Lowland north AB: 18 records, medium confidence
Churchill River Upland north SK: 16 records, medium confidence
Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 10 records, medium confidence
Western Boreal central AB: 9 records, medium confidence
Hay River Lowland north AB: 8 records, medium confidence
Tazin Lake Upland north AB / SK: 8 records, medium confidence
Athabasca Plain north AB / SK: 4 records, low confidence
Clear Hills Upland north AB: 4 records, low confidence
Mid-Boreal Lowland central SK: 3 records, low confidence

These are counts of records collected somewhere in the region, which is the resolution of the evidence: the map above shows where inside it. A region with 3 records is not the same claim as one with three hundred, so the count travels with the region. A region missing from this list means nobody has recorded it there, which is not the same as the plant being absent. Records within 900 m of a border count for neither side, because the border is not drawn finely enough to say which one they are on. Source: GBIF occurrence search + PRESERVED_SPECIMEN pass, retrieved 2026-08-24. Boundaries digitised from the National Ecological Framework for Canada v2.2 (Ecological Stratification Working Group 1995), simplified to about 900 m for display: an outline is accurate to roughly a kilometre, not to the metre. How these counts are made.

See every observation, live and current, on GBIF or iNaturalist.

Documented animals

166 documented relationships.

nectar for

A Digger Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
A Flower Fly LaManna et al. 2020
A Leafcutter Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Aerial Yellowjacket Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Agapostemon femoratus Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Agapostemon texanus Specimen records from ecdysis.org
American Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Andrena miranda LaManna et al. 2020
Andrena prunorum Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Anthidium mormonum Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Aphrodite Fritillary Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Arctic Fritillary Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Arctic Skipper Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Arctic Yellowjacket Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Bicoloured Sweat Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Black-tailed Bumble Bee LaManna et al. 2020
Boloria epithore Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Brown-belted Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Brown-tailed Bumble Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Bumblebee-like Digger Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Central Bumble Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Ceratina calcarata Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Clouded Sulphur Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Coelioxys funerarius Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Coelioxys porterae LaManna et al. 2020
Coelioxys rufitarsis Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Confusing Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Cryptic Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Dolichovespula albida Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Dolichovespula norvegicoides Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Drone Fly LaManna et al. 2020
Eristalis flavipes Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Eupeodes americanus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Eupeodes latifasciatus LaManna et al. 2020
Eupeodes volucris LaManna et al. 2020
Euphydryas editha Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Frigid Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Golden Northern Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Half-black Bumble Bee LaManna et al. 2020
Halictus confusus Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Halictus farinosus Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Halictus tripartitus Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Halictus virgatellus Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Heriades carinata Specimen records from ecdysis.org
High Country Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Hoplitis albifrons Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Hoplitis fulgida Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Hoplitis sambuci Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Hunt's Bumble Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Hylaeus basalis LaManna et al. 2020
Hylaeus modestus LaManna et al. 2020
Hyles gallii Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Indiscriminate Cuckoo Bumble Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Lapposyrphus lapponicus LaManna et al. 2020
Lasioglossum anhypops Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Lasioglossum buccale Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Lasioglossum cressonii Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Lasioglossum glabriventre Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Lasioglossum laevissimum Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Lasioglossum marinense LaManna et al. 2020
Lasioglossum nevadense Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Lasioglossum nigroviride LaManna et al. 2020
Lasioglossum sisymbrii Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Megachile angelarum Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Megachile apicalis Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Megachile frigida Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Megachile gemula LaManna et al. 2020
Megachile lapponica Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Megachile melanophaea Specimen records from scan-bugs.org
Megachile montivaga Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Megachile onobrychidis Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Megachile perihirta LaManna et al. 2020
Megachile pugnata LaManna et al. 2020
Megachile rotundata Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Megachile texana Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Megasyrphus laxus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Melissa Blue LaManna et al. 2020
Melissodes microstictus LaManna et al. 2020
Monarch Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Nevada Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Northern Amber Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Northern Azure Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Orange-banded Bumble Bee LaManna et al. 2020
Orange-legged Furrow Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Ornate Checkered Beetle Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Osmia aff.paradisica LaManna et al. 2020
Osmia albolateralis LaManna et al. 2020
Osmia densa Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Osmia inermis LaManna et al. 2020
Osmia juxta LaManna et al. 2020
Osmia nanula LaManna et al. 2020
Osmia paradisica LaManna et al. 2020
Osmia pentstemonis LaManna et al. 2020
Osmia proxima Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Osmia pusilla LaManna et al. 2020
Osmia tristella LaManna et al. 2020
Pale Swallowtail Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Physocephala furcillata Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Plebejus idas Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Police Car Moth Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Polygonia faunus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Red Admiral Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Red-belted Bumble Bee LaManna et al. 2020
Red-tailed Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Sericomyia chalcopyga Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Sitka Bumble Bee LaManna et al. 2020
Synanthedon pictipes Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Systoechus oreas LaManna et al. 2020
Tharsalea mariposa Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Trichiotinus assimilis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Tricoloured Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Two-ranked Bumble Bee LaManna et al. 2020
Vancouver Bumble Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Vespula consobrina Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Virginia Ctenucha Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Western Bumble Bee LaManna et al. 2020
Western Tiger Swallowtail Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Western White Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
White Admiral Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
White-lined Sphinx Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Woodland Skipper Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Yellow Cuckoo Bumble Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Yellow-banded Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Yellow-fronted Bumble Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org

pollen for

A Digger Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
A Leafcutter Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Adejeania vexatrix Clements & F. L. Long 1923
American Sand Wasp Guzman et al. 2022
Arctic Yellowjacket Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Atlantis Fritillary Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Black-tailed Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Brown-tailed Bumble Bee Guzman et al. 2022
Central Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Eupeodes americanus Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Hoplitis albifrons Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Hunt's Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Hylaeus annulatus Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Hylaeus basalis Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Indiscriminate Cuckoo Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Lasioglossum pacatum Guzman et al. 2022
Megachile gemula Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Megachile latimanus Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Megachile melanophaea Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Megachile pugnata Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Megachile texana Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Melissodes agilis Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Nevada Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Occidental Digger Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Orange-banded Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Orange-legged Furrow Bee Guzman et al. 2022
Osmia subaustralis Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Red-belted Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Two-ranked Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Vespula germanica Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Western Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Yellow-fronted Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923

caterpillar host for

Albuna pyramidalis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Androloma maccullochii Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Autographa californica Specimen records from scan-bugs.org
Bromius obscurus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Dasineura epilobii Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Hyles gallii Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Mompha raschkiella Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Mompha unifasciella Specimen records from iNaturalist.org

Also worth knowing

Safety

Toxicity not assessed, absence of a warning is not a guarantee of safety

Edible parts

Young shoots, leaves, flowers, pith

Buying it

About $8–$16 per plant (estimate), usually stocked by garden centres. Estimate (herb default); AB retail as of 2026

Where these numbers came from

Flower detail: not verified, a genus-level estimate