Burnweed
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Erechtites hieraciifolius (L.) Raf. ex DC.; some sources list as E. hieraciifolia
Common name(s): burnweed, American burnweed, fireweed
Links: USDA PLANTS Profile , NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- seedling
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- seedlings in prune field, June
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- leaf detail
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- underside of leaves
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- flowers, July
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- flowers, August
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- in seed, late August
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- varying flower stages
Description:
– annual
-native
-leaves are
- simple
- alternate
- lobed and toothed
-shallow fibrous root system
– two varieties in New England; in wild blueberry fields E. hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius. The other is endemic to sandy sea beaches and salt marshes; see Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-man-made disturbed areas
-marshes or flats
-wetlands
-coastal beaches
-meadows and fields
Source(s):
Haines, A., Farnsworth, E., Morrison, G., & New England Wild Flower Society. (2011). New England Wildflower Society’s Flora Novae Angliae: A manual for the identification of native and naturalized higher vascular plants of New England. Framingham, MA: New England Wild Flower Society. p. 395.
Go Botany. “Erechtites Hieraciifolius (L.) Raf. Ex DC.” Erechtites Hieraciifolius (American Burnweed): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/erechtites/hieraciifolius/.