A wildling in Scotland

[arillady]

A niece and her partner visited Scotland last year and gave Mum for Christmas a couple of framed prints taken on their trip. One featured a flower which I was asked to identify - hence this posting. Please do not ask where it was as I forgot to ask.
The shot is not all that good as I was photographing through glass in the boot of the car on the day!!!

[annew]

Rosebay Willowherb, I think - Chamaerion angustifolium.

[Maggi Young]

Rosebay Willowherb, I think - Chamaerion angustifolium.

 ....and somewhere lovely on the West Coast......

[arillady]

I posted this 5 minutes ago and 7 views and two replies  This forum is the absolute best!!!!
I wonder if some people go to bed with their computers!!!

[Maggi Young]

What is a "bed".......... somewhere to plant flowers?

[Paddy Tobin]

Anne, very kindly did not mention that this willowherb is a blasted weed.

There is a white flowered variant which is said to be not such a pest though I wouldn't trust this to put it in my garden.

Paddy

[fleurbleue]

Sure thing Maggi ! Why not   ?

[arillady]

And the laughs and smiles and quirky retorts make my day.
Paddy I did think that I recalled some bad feeling about this plant in an earlier posting
Nice photo none the less. Third time lucky to post this reply without having to add more as someone has replied while I have been thinking and typing. Then I must get going.

[TheOnionMan]

What's the real name?  Chamerion angustifolium?  Better known as Epilobium angustifoilum or Fireweed, at least in the US... maybe it has changed and I'm unaware.

The following show as synonyms:
Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub; Epilobium angustifolium L.; Chamaenerion angustifolium (L.) Scop.; Chamaerion angustifolium (L.)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Chamerion_angustifolium

[arillady]

Thanks Mark for the link. Uhm it is everywhere isn't it? No wonder it seeds so well with those nice fluffy seeds. Not sure if it is in Oz - will have to wait for a reply from a local.

[Paul T]

Pat,

If it isn't, that may actually be a blessing by the sound of it. 

[Diane Whitehead]

Fireweed honey is the commonest kind in our area.

Fireweed  grows prolifically where the forest has been cut.
 In summer, beekeepers truck their hives to these areas, where
they have to put electric fencing around the hives to deter bears.

[Stephenb]

What's the real name?  Chamerion angustifolium?  Better known as Epilobium angustifoilum or Fireweed, at least in the US... maybe it has changed and I'm unaware.

I've understood that Chamerion angustifolium is the current accepted name. I made the mistake once of planting them in a bed in the open garden and the white one was just as bad. I then grew "alba" and another form with strongly contrasting buds and flower petals which I called "Smalfjord", the name of the place where it was found. This clone contrasted on the hillside where it was growing in a dense stand of other Willowherbs that it was growing with.   Both are shown below (taken from slides, so sorry for the quality). Have since seen similar pictures to Smalfjord, so its  probably not that unusual.

I subsequently grew them in pots, but these "wild roaming plants" didn't like being restrained and died after a few years of captivity. Despite several attempts I failed to get a single seed that I had collected to germinate(maybe I should have simulated a fire).

I often use the shoots in spring as a vegetable mixed with other perennial spring greens and a friend of mine makes a pleasant fermented tea from it from a Russian recipe, Kaporski (Kaporie) tea - Копорский чай

[arillady]

Oh thankyou - such a pretty plant has some uses to redeem it in our plant kingdom - it can be brewed or eaten. 
But Salvation Jane/Patterson's Curse aka Echium ....... on the other hand ................ the purple paddocks can look pretty spectacular but it takes over in our hot dry climate. At least we would not have trouble with the Fireweed as we are too dry here.

[Stephenb]

Never seen a use for the "Curse", sorry Echium vulgare is supposed to be OK in a salad (too coarse for my liking) and also supposedly stimulates "Desire" - haven't dared try (yet)....