fireweed

fire·weed

noun \-ˌwēd\

Definition of FIREWEED

: any of several plants that grow especially in clearings or burned districts: as

a : a weedy annual composite (Erechtites hieracifolia) of eastern North America having flower heads of whitish tubular disk flowers enveloped by green bracts

b : a tall perennial (Epilobium angustifolium) of the evening-primrose family that has long spikes of pinkish-purple flowers and is an important honey plant in some areas —called also willow herb

First Known Use of FIREWEED

1784

Rhymes with FIREWEED

accede, airspeed, bindweed, birdseed, blueweed, bourride, breast-feed, bur reed, burweed, cheerlead, chickweed, concede, crossbreed, cudweed, debride, degreed, duckweed, exceed, fairlead, fern seed, flaxseed, force-feed, free reed, Godspeed, ground speed, gulfweed, half-breed, hand-feed, hawkweed, hayseed, high-speed, horseweed, impede, implead, inbreed, indeed, ironweed, Jamshid, jetbead, knapweed, knotweed, linseed, lip-read, milkweed, misdeed, mislead, misread, moonseed, nosebleed, off-speed, oilseed, pigweed, pinweed, pokeweed, pondweed, precede, proceed, proofread, ragweed, rapeseed, recede, reseed, rockweed, seaweed, secede, self-feed, Siegfried, sight-read, silkweed, smartweed, snakeweed, sneezeweed, speed-read, spoon-feed, stall-feed, stampede, stickseed, stickweed, stinkweed, succeed, ten-speed, tickseed, warp speed, weak-kneed, witchweed, wormseed

fireweed

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Perennial wildflower (Epilobium angustifolium) of the evening-primrose family. Its spikes of whitish to magenta flowers, which grow up to 5 ft (1.5 m) high, can be a spectacular sight on prairies of the temperate zone. Its seeds can lie dormant for many years, awaiting the warmth necessary for germination. Fireweed is one of the first plants to appear after a forest or brush fire; it also rapidly covers scrub or woodland areas that have been cleared by machine. It has limited use in wild gardens, where it must be carefully checked and confined.