''Chamaenerion latifolium'' (formerly ''Epilobium latifolium'', also called ''Chamerion latifolium'') is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the English common names dwarf fireweed and river beauty willowherb. It has a circumboreal distribution, appearing throughout the northern regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of humid continental regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and the Cairngorms. Generally, ...

and Arctic areas such as snowmelt-flooded gravel bars and talus, in a wide range of elevations.Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
This is a perennial herb growing in clumps of leaves variable in size, shape, and texture above a woody

caudex A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695 In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, "caudex" is m ...

. The leaves are 1 to 10 centimeters long, lance-shaped to oval, pointed or rounded at the tips, and hairy to hairless and waxy. The inflorescence is a rough-haired

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

of nodding flowers with bright to deep pink, and occasionally white, petals up to 3 centimeters long. Behind the opened petals are pointed sepals. The fruit is an elongated capsule which may exceed 10 centimeters in length. This arctic plant provides valuable nutrition for the Inuit, who eat the leaves raw, boiled with fat, or steeped in water for tea, the flowers and fruits raw, and as a salad with meals of seal and walrus

blubber Blubber is a thick layer of vascularized adipose tissue under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds, penguins, and sirenians. Description Lipid-rich, collagen fiber-laced blubber comprises the hypodermis and covers the whole body, except for pa ...

. The leaves and shoots are edible, tasting much like spinach, and is also known in the Canadian tundra as River Beauty. It is the national flower of GreenlandThe national flower of Greenland: Dwarf fireweed
/ref> with the Greenlandic name ''niviarsiaq'' ("young girl"). Chamerion latifolium upernavik 2007-08-06 2

Chamerion latifolium upernavik 2007-08-06 2

References

External links

*
Washington Flora ChecklistJepson eFloraPhoto gallery
latifolium Edible plants Flora of Greenland {{Myrtales-stub