ldurkee2's Journal

Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) is a plant found throughout Alaska and is known for its beautiful pink flowers. The plant I observed has fully bloomed and is now barren of its blooms, ready for winter.
Fireweed is an amazing plant that grows rapidly through our Alaskan summers, I have personally observed stalks that reached over 7 feet in height. These plants are especially great at growing in areas affected by forest fires, which is where the name fireweed comes from. Its truly both a grim and beautiful experience driving past burned up forests and seeing thousands of bright pink blooms.
Fireweed aren't just a decorative plant though, they can be used in some foods for both humans and animals as well. The inside stalk is actually something that I've eaten quite a few times, it isn't super tasty but it's an interesting texture. More commonly the flowers are what's used in recipes for jellies, beverages and even syrups, where I worked in Palmer Alaska had milkshakes with fireweed syrup that they made themselves, from my experience it has a very sweet unique taste.
Each of these plants can have over 50 small flowers and over 80,000 seeds that are eventually released with a fluffy fiber that can be seen covering the plants after they lose their flowers in the fall. Growing up I was always told that when fireweed loses all its flowers and releases its seeds it signifies the end of summer. This actually varies a lot based on what region you live in and what kind of summer you have had, but it's usually close enough. The one I observed today is absolutely a sign that summer is over and winter is just around the corner.

Devil's club (Oplpanax horridus) is a large plant found in many places around Alaska, it loves to grow in big dense clusters in the forest. These plants are both a blessing and a curse to those who live around them, they are a very painful plant to encounter but also have healing properties and provide food for certain animals.
These plants can reach heights of three to five feet tall, but can exceed this in some cases. As I've seen with my own two eyes, the leaves are also quite large, reaching over two feet long in some cases. The name devil’s club is an obvious reference to their prickly and intimidating appearance with large spines everywhere.
I've always had more of a healthy fear of them when off the trails, hearing about how painful their spines are and seeing them tower over other foliage with spines everywhere, even on the leaves. My mother accidentally got some of these spines in her forehead when she was traveling to a fishing spot with my dad who doesn't always pay attention to who's behind him when moving branches out of the way.
Despite their spiny nature, the devils club has been used by native Alaskans for a long time, mostly for medicinal purposes and pain relief; the parts used for this are usually the inner stalk and roots. The stalk is also hung in native Alaskan doorways to ward off evil The berries aren't for human consumption but are one of the many berries that black bears enjoy snacking on.