fireweed
Americannoun
noun
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any of various plants that appear as first vegetation in burnt-over areas, esp rosebay willowherb
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Also called: pilewort. a weedy North American plant, Erechtites hieracifolia , having small white or greenish flowers: family Asteraceae (composites)
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an Australian rainforest tree, Stenocarpus sinuatus , having whorls of bright red flowers
Etymology
Origin of fireweed
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Alaskan lore has it that when fireweed flowers bloom all the way to the top, leaving what looks like a puff of smoke, summer is at an end.
From New York Times ● Sep. 24, 2022
The land is dotted with dead “snags” surrounded by thick mats of crisscrossed fallen logs flanked by fireweed, a purple wildflower that thrives in the open spaces left by blazes.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 5, 2021
Writing through his troubles, Specktor offers consolatory beauty, much as fireweed blooms on hillsides after the destruction of a forest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2021
High on the slopes of Hatcher Pass, the cottonwood leaves are bright yellow, fireweed fluff is flying and temperatures are starting to drop.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 21, 2019
From a thick pile of dead leaves beneath a holly tree, Hazel looked down a narrow path lined on either side with fern and sprouting fireweed.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
