American burnweed.

Auf einen Blick

Pflegestufe

Einfach

Pflanzenart

Annual herb

Licht

Full sun to partial shade

Licht im Innenraum

Direkte Sonne

Gießen

Alle 2 bis 4 Tage

Endgröße

3 to 8 feet

Wachstum

Schnell

Winterhärte

USDA 3 bis 9

Blütezeit

Mid summer to early autumn

Pflege

Keep the soil consistently moist as this plant prefers damp conditions. Watch for wilting during dry spells, as it does not tolerate drought well. It is a prolific self seeder, so remove flower heads if you want to limit its spread.

Gießen

Water whenever the top inch of soil feels dry to the touch.

Düngen

Apply a balanced liquid fertilizer during the active growing season.

Schneiden

Deadhead spent flowers to prevent unwanted seed dispersal.

Umtopfen

Since this is an annual, it typically completes its life cycle within one year.

Boden

Moist, fertile, well drained soil

Boden-pH

6.0 to 7.5

Temperatur

-15 bis 35°C

Luftfeuchtigkeit

40 bis 80%

Trockenheitstoleranz

Mittel

Lebensdauer

Annual, typically 1 year

Wildverbiss-Resistenz

Mittel

Sicherheit

Menschen

The plant is generally considered non-toxic but should be handled with care as some individuals may experience contact dermatitis.

Kinder

The fluffy seed heads are tempting to touch but can be a minor choking hazard if inhaled or ingested by small children.

Kontaktallergene

Handling the foliage may cause mild skin irritation in sensitive individuals.

Allergene in der Luft

The wind dispersed seeds have fine hairs that can be a minor respiratory irritant.

Essbarkeit

While young leaves are sometimes eaten as a potherb, they can be bitter and require careful identification to avoid confusion with toxic lookalikes.

So erkennst du die Pflanze

• Tall, succulent, grooved stems
• Alternate, lance shaped, serrated leaves
• Small, cylindrical, white to greenish flower heads
• Seeds have fluffy, white bristles

Höhe

0,6 bis 2,5m

Breite

0,3 bis 0,6m

Blätter

green, deciduous

Blüten

white, cream, 0,5 bis 1cm

Früchte

brown, Autumn

Häufige Probleme

• Powdery Mildew — White fungal growth on leaves often caused by poor air circulation.
• Aphids — Small insects that cluster on new growth and suck plant juices.

Standort und Pflege

Vermehrung

seed

Pflanzzeit

spring

Überwinterung

As an annual, the plant dies back completely after setting seed in autumn. No special winter care is needed.

Im Kübel

It is not well suited for containers due to its height and rapid growth habit.

Plant this in open, sunny areas where it has room to self seed without crowding out slower growing perennials.

Gute Pflanzpartner

• Goldrute — They share similar habitat requirements and provide a late season nectar boost.
• Symphyotrichum — These plants provide excellent structural and color contrast in a meadow setting.

Ähnliche Arten

• Common groundsel — It shares a similar growth habit but is generally much smaller.
• Erechtites floridanus — This species is closely related and often confused due to similar appearance.

Botanisches

Familie

Asteraceae

Gattung

Erechtites

Ordnung

Asterales

Klasse

Magnoliopsida

Ursprüngliche Heimat

Widespread across North and South America.

Artenschutz

It is a common and widespread native species that is not currently of conservation concern.

This plant acts as an opportunistic colonizer that quickly occupies disturbed sites or areas recently cleared by fire.

Nutzen für Wildtiere

nectar source, larval host plant

Bestäuber

Bienen, Schmetterlinge, Nachtfalter

Verwendung

pioneer species, wildlife garden, restoration planting

Taxonomie abgeglichen mit GBIF.

Häufige Fragen

Is this plant invasive?

It is native to North America and is considered a beneficial pioneer species rather than invasive.

Does it need a lot of water?

It prefers moist soil but can tolerate short periods of dryness once established.

Woher der Name kommt

The genus name Erechtites comes from a Greek name used by Dioscorides for a groundsel, while the specific epithet hieraciifolius refers to the leaves resembling those of the hawkweed genus Hieracium.

Gut zu wissen

• It is commonly known as fireweed because it colonizes burned areas rapidly.
• The plant produces vast quantities of windborne seeds.
• It is an annual that completes its entire life cycle in one growing season.