VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Epilobium angustifolium | Fireweed 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Fireweed is a preferred food for ungulates in British Columbia, Wyoming,
and Oregon [29,58,91,184,205].  It is eaten by moose, caribou, muskrats,
and hares in British Columbia [29].  In Alberta, fireweed is incidental
forage for bighorn sheep [23].  Fireweed is consumed by woodland caribou
in Minnesota and Ontario [49,186].  It is an important summer food for
mountain goats in Alaska [95].  Small mammals, such as chipmunks and
pikas, eat fireweed seeds [221].  Fireweed is a nectar source for
hummingbirds [172,200].  Butterflies use both the nectar and pollen from
fireweed [25].

In the Rocky Mountains, fireweed is an important food for elk in summer
[106,126,129].  Elk sometimes feed exclusively on fireweed [180].  In
one study, utilization of fireweed reflected its availability; an
average of 4 percent of bites of forbs taken by elk on burned areas was
fireweed, compared with less than 0.5 percent of bites on unburned areas
[34].  In another study, elk utilized fireweed more in clearcuts than in
grass-shrub communities [106].

Fireweed use by white-tailed deer was restricted to the months of
January and May [114].  Foraging deer used fireweed 3 to 8 percent of
the time during July and August in Minnesota [105].

In Oregon, black-tailed deer prefer fireweed [66,67].  Black-tailed deer
use fireweed as forage from May to July in British Columbia and Alaska
[47,167].  In Washington, black-tailed deer stomach content analyses
showed that fireweed was a major food item, eaten with 14 percent
frequency [30].  It was consumed throughout the entire growing season
(May to October).

Mule deer use fireweed moderately as forage during the summer in Wyoming
and Colorado [57,220].  In Arizona, fireweed is rated as potentially
valuable forage for mule deer and elk during the spring (March to May)
[209].

Fireweed comprised 44 percent of summer and 18 percent of fall nonwoody
forage eaten by moose in Idaho [179].  In Montana, moose used fireweed
as food less than 2 percent during spring and winter [194].  Moose used
fireweed as approximately 5 percent of summer forage in Wyoming [99].
Fireweed was preferred by moose in Minnesota during June and July and
was eaten 7 to 17 percent of the time [105].  In Alaska, before it
flowered, fireweed was a preferred major food item for moose during July
[133].  Postflowering fireweed plants were rarely consumed.


PALATABILITY : 
The palatability of fireweed for livestock and wildlife species has been
rated as follows [60,104,200]:

                         ID      MT      OR      UT      WA      WY
Cattle                  ----    ----    good    ----    good    ----
Sheep                   good    ----    good    ----    good    ----
Pronghorn               ----    ----    ----    good    ----    poor
Elk                     good    fair    ----    good    ----    good
Mule deer               good    fair    ----    good    ----    good
White-tailed deer       good    fair    ----    fair    ----    good
Small mammals           ----    ----    ----    fair    ----    good
Small nongame birds     ----    ----    ----    fair    ----    good
Upland game birds       ----    ----    ----    ----    ----    poor
Waterfowl               ----    ----    ----    poor    ----    poor


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Nutritional value of fireweed varies depending on season and site.
Fireweed crude protein averaged 20 percent throughout the second summer
following fire; dry matter digestibility was over 80 percent [58].  In
another study, crude protein content was 13.7 percent, and protein
digestibility (dry matter) was 13 percent [180].  Fireweed collected in
July in Alaska had 11.9 percent protein, 62.2 percent dry matter
digestibility for moose, and 64.7 percent dry matter digestibility for
dairy cow [169].  Fireweed samples taken in July and August in Minnesota
had crude protein of 4 to 9 percent and dry matter digestibility of 28
to 69 percent [186].  In Oregon, June fireweed foliage had 17.7 percent
protein [66].

Fireweed flowers contain tannins that have a very high capacity to
precipitate proteins, reducing the actual amount of protein available to
an herbivore [180].


COVER VALUE : 
The degree to which fireweed provides cover during one or more seasons
for wildlife species have been rated as follows [60]:

                         MT      UT      WY
Pronghorn               ----    poor    poor
Elk                     ----    poor    poor
Mule deer               ----    fair    poor
White-tailed deer       poor    ----    ----
Small mammals           poor    fair    fair
Small nongame birds     poor    ----    fair
Upland game birds       ----    fair    fair
Waterfowl               ----    poor    poor        


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Fireweed is used for revegetation of mined land.  In Alberta, fireweed
successfully establishes on mine spoils in alpine and subalpine habitats
[32,183].  Fireweed voluntarily seeded into plantings of commercial
species on coal strip mines in Alaska [68].  Elliott and others [68]
cautioned against fireweed invasion when using nonnative reclamation
species.  Fireweed formed mycorrhizal associations on coal mine spoils
[29].

When establishing on borrow pits of differing ages in northwestern
Canada, fireweed had variable success but was present on all sites
[117].  Kershaw and Kershaw [117] advocated the use of fireweed in
revegetation programs in tundra regions.

During a planting trial that tested the revegetation potential of
species along disturbed roadsides in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming,
fireweed naturally seeded in with the planted grasses and forbs during
the first year [145].  Fireweed is recommended for use as protective
groundcover throughout British Columbia on disturbed sites, such as
roadways and logged areas [221].  Planting guidelines for fireweed are
detailed [221].

Revegetation of crude oil spills is a concern in tundra regions.
Fireweed was 1 of 14 plants with cover greater than 2 percent on oil
spill areas that were 35 years old [116].  In British Columbia, fireweed
was able to survive diesel oil on its foliage; however, the plants died
where the spill penetrated to the roots [221].

Planting fireweed rhizomes may speed colonization of a disturbed area
[148].  Dormant rhizomes were collected and planted in simulated
pipeline trenches and road rights-of-way in the Northwest Territories
[148].  Fireweed plants established best with the addition of
fertilizer.


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Young shoots were collected by Nuxalk Indians in British Columbia for
food [131].  Fireweed petals are made into jelly [98].  Mature leaves
are dried and used as tea [90].  Roots are eaten raw by Siberian Eskimos
[101].

Fireweed is grown as an ornamental; however, it can become an aggressive
weed [94,221].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Although fireweed does not readily invade established vegetation, it may
be a problem when establishing confer seedlings [43].  Fireweed overtops
conifer seedlings and will persist for 10 years or more [15,29,43,
138,166].  It contributes to snow press damage of tree seedlings [87].
The thick rhizomes of fireweed may serve as occasional sources of
rootrot (Armillaria ostoyae), a destructive disease in ponderosa pine
(Pinus ponderosa) [121].

Fireweed is better adapted to subalpine habitats than are some
introduced species used in roadside seedings.  Some managers regard
fireweed as the most prominent weed of montane areas [77].

Biological Control:  A wide range of aphids and other insects have been
reported as parasites or associates on fireweed [29].  In a fireweed
population in northern Idaho, the smaller plants were dying of Aecidium
infections [102].

Chemical Control:  Soil-acting compounds (e.g., bromacil) and foliar
sprays (e.g., 2,4-D) give effective control of fireweed [29,43].
However, glyophosate only gives a short-term reduction in fireweed cover
[43,171].  Other herbicides, such as pronamid or terbacil at rates of 2
pounds active ingredients per acre (2.2 kg ai/ha), do not control
fireweed [201].

In a visual assessment of foliar susceptibility, fireweed was
extensively damaged by sulphur dioxide released from a burning landfill
[96].

Mechanical Control:  Fireweed is susceptible to damage from continual
grazing, trampling, or mowing [29].  However, stembases are stimulated
by cutting to produce more shoots and rhizomes [41].  Early spring
grazing of fireweed stimulates shoot production; plants can be grazed
again in the fall.  Since this grazing regime lowers fireweed
vitality, grazing can be used for suppression [104].  Fireweed cover was
reduced from 50 percent to 25 percent after 2 years of grazing by sheep
[107].  By year 7, fireweed began to disappear.  Fireweed has low
resistance to human trampling.  Less than 40 passes per year through a
fireweed population reduced its frequency and cover [42], but it was
able to recover between seasons of use.

Various straw mulches were placed on a clearcut in Quebec to suppress
herbaceous vegetation [109].  The mulch had no effect on the presence of
fireweed.

Disturbance to the forest floor may increase fireweed.  V-blade and
brush rake site preparation methods after clearcutting increased the
amount of fireweed; however, disking did not [108].  Unscalped areas
supported more fireweed cover on both clearcut and shelterwood cut white
spruce (Picea glauca) stands in Alaska [228].  Unscarified areas in
clearcut sub-boreal forests had higher fireweed cover than
blade-scarified areas; however, unscarified areas in clearcut boreal
forests had lower fireweed cover than blade-scarified areas [27].

To enhance forage species, such as fireweed, subalpine fir (Abies
lasiocarpa) was clearcut in strips.  Fireweed significantly (p<0.05)
increased in standing crop biomass on the cut areas [177].  Foliar cover
and height of fireweed are able to account for 89 percent of the
variation in biomass in a variety of cover types in Alaska [225].  This
model can be used to predict the productivity of an area.

Industry Considerations:  Fireweed is an important nectar producer for
the honey industry throughout Canada [29].  Honey production from
fireweed in the Soviet Union was reported as 892.2 pounds per acre (1,000
kg/ha) [29].  Ingram [104] noted that apiarists followed logging
operations to ensure fireweed nectar sources.

Related categories for Species: Epilobium angustifolium | Fireweed