WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

Waist to chest high, dense stands of fireweed cover open mountain slopes and meadows with a blanket of fiery color, both when in bloom and when the leaves turn maroon in the fall. Flowers bloom from the bottom of the spike upward. By the time the seeds turn to puff, summer is nearly over. Note the spatula-shaped petals and showy, white stamens.

FLOWERS: July–September. Pink to purple, 4 petals, 3/8–1 inch (10–25 mm) long separated by 4 spreading, lance-shaped sepals; 8 protruding white stamens and a 4-lobed stigma. Fruit is a slender capsule 1–3-inches (3–8 cm) long with numerous fluffy, seeds.

LEAVES: Alternate, ascending, crowded on stem. Blade narrow to lance-shaped, 2-8 inches long (5–20 cm), margins entire.

HABITAT: Moist soils of slopes and openings, steam banks, roadsides, disturbed areas (especially after fire); ponderosa-Douglas fir, aspen, spruce-fir.

ELEVATION: 5,500-11,000 feet.

RANGE: Widespread throughout mountains across No. Am.; circumboreal.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The above characteristics distinguish this distinctive plant.

NM COUNTIES: Statewide in mountains in mid- to high-elevation, moist habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Colfax, Grant, Lincoln, Los Alamos, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, Santa Fe, San Juan, San Miguel, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance.