Chamaenerion latifolium

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Chamaenerion latifolium
Chamerion latifolium RHu 02.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Onagraceae
Genus: Chamaenerion
Species:
C. latifolium
Binomial name
Chamaenerion latifolium
(L.) Sweet [1]
Synonyms [1]
  • Epilobium latifoliumL.
  • Chamerion latifolium(L.) Holub

Chamaenerion latifolium (formerly Epilobium latifolium, also called Chamerion latifolium) [1] [2] is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the English common names dwarf fireweed [3] and river beauty willowherb. It has a circumboreal distribution, appearing throughout the northern regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including subarctic and Arctic areas such as snowmelt-flooded gravel bars and talus, in a wide range of elevations. [4] This is a perennial herb growing in clumps of leaves variable in size, shape, and texture above a woody caudex. The leaves are 1 to 10 centimeters long, lance-shaped to oval, pointed or rounded at the tips, and hairy to hairless and waxy. The inflorescence is a rough-haired raceme of nodding flowers with bright to deep pink, and occasionally white, petals up to 3 centimeters long. Behind the opened petals are pointed sepals. The fruit is an elongated capsule which may exceed 10 centimeters in length.

This arctic plant provides valuable nutrition for the Inuit, who eat the leaves raw, boiled with fat, or steeped in water for tea, the flowers and fruits raw, and as a salad with meals of seal and walrus blubber. [4] [5] The leaves and shoots are edible, [6] tasting much like spinach, and is also known in the Canadian tundra as River Beauty.[ citation needed ]

It is the national flower of Greenland [7] with the Greenlandic name niviarsiaq ("young girl").

Flower of Chamerion latifolium Chamerion latifolium upernavik 2007-08-06 2.jpg
Flower of Chamerion latifolium

Related Research Articles

<i>Chamaenerion angustifolium</i> Species of flowering plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae

Chamaenerion angustifolium is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae. It is known in North America as fireweed and in the British Isles as rosebay willowherb. It is also known by the synonyms Chamerion angustifolium and Epilobium angustifolium. It is native throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere, including large parts of the boreal forests.

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Chamaenerion is a genus of flowering plants in the family Onagraceae. It has sometimes been included in the genus Epilobium. Members of the genus may be called willowherbs, or fireweeds, based on a common name used for C. angustifolium. They are upright herbaceous perennials, growing from a woody base or from rhizomes, with racemes of usually purple to pink flowers. All species are found in the northern hemisphere. Most occur in moist habitats; C. angustifolium is the exception, favouring disturbed ground.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Chamaenerion latifolium (L.) Sweet", Tropicos, Missouri Botanical Garden, retrieved 2017-03-03
  2. "Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub ssp. circumvagum (Mosquin) Hoch [JPM2]". Washington Flora Checklist. University of Washington Herbarium, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture . Retrieved 2012-10-05.
  3. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Chamerion latifolium". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  4. 1 2 Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago Archived June 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  5. Ethnobotany
  6. Reiner, Ralph E. (1969). Introducing the Flowering Beauty of Glacier National Park and the Majestic High Rockies. Glacier Park, Inc. p. 70.
  7. The national flower of Greenland: Dwarf fireweed