Fireweed (Chamerion latifolium)

I used to know this plant as Epilobium angustifolium; it’s still a wonderful plant.

Common in disturbance-prone habitats, it grows throughout the Pacific Northwest (where I first saw it as a post-clear cut and post-fire native in my youth), but also grows in much of Canada. It’s frequent here in Quebec in Bas St. Laurent along roadsides, pasture edges, along the railroad right-of-way, etc.

It’s a bumblebee favorite. We saw lots of bumblebees visiting open flowers this evening on our walk in Le Bic. It’ll be an addition to our landscape here next year.