Purple Fireweed or Evening Primrose

A native of North America fireweed is used medicinally as an antispasmodic: its roots and leaves were made into an infusion to treat asthma, whooping-cough, and hiccups. The dried leaves were also used as a demulcent (soothing to the mucous membranes) and an astringent. Fireweed's greatest benefit to man, however, is as a food. Many Indian tribes ate the young shoots or cooked the pith of the stems as soup, and they and others used the leaves as a potherb. French Canadians esteem fireweed so highly they call it asperge, or asparagus. Both the young flower stalks and the leaves can serve as salad ingredients.