One of the most beautiful wildflowers in Alaska is the Fireweed. The delicate, purple-pink blossoms have a number of uses. As a tea, Fireweed is good for upset stomachs, coughs, and asthma. Applied in other ways it treats bites, cuts, and eczema. The blossoms are also used to make flavorful jelly or honey.

Fireweed is so named because it is the first plant to bloom after a fire. When the smoke clears, and the earth cools, these flowers emerge from the blackened earth. Fireweed covers the landscape like a stunning quilt, trading beauty for ashes.