American burnweed doesn’t care what you think. But you should think more about this plant anyway. It just might surprise you!
American burnweeds are free spirits, throwing caution and seed to the winds and popping up irreverently in new places each year. And why shouldn’t they? Life is short when you’re an annual plant who must sprout, flourish, reproduce, grow old and die in one season. It’s especially precarious when you’re an annual plant under constant threat of being yanked and sprayed.
Burnweeds don’t care what you think, rising above—sometimes even seven feet above—all the insulting remarks made about their worthlessness and unconventional appearance. They dare to sport bold leaves and tiny flowers, an anatomical combination that seems to have grossly offended the human arbiters of floral and faunal value past and present. In 1944, Alabama botanist Roland Harper admitted that burnweeds were harmless to food crops before besmirching them anyway as “one of our most useless and disreputable-looking weeds, very unattractive in appearance, and ill-scented besides.” Today, university extension sites still chastise burnweed for being, as one detractor put it, an affront to “the aesthetic attributes of the landscape.”
The bees, wasps, and butterflies in my habitat would beg to disagree with those assessments of one of their favorite late-summer plants. Far from being “useless,” burnweed flowers provide nectar for many insects.
Flowers aren’t the only hot spots. Because of their wide, sturdy leaves and abundant growth, burnweeds offer perfect substrates for courting and mating. Much drama unfolds in the understory of these plants we so often overlook. “Femme fatale” fireflies, so named for their habit of eating males, perch on the leaves. Zabulon skippers stop by to court and mate, attracting the attention of interlopers who try to aggressively disrupt their dalliances.
Burnweeds are wild pioneers, proliferating in the wake of fires or other disturbance; in our habitat, they seized their opportunity after our next-door neighbor removed dozens of pine trees and sunlight filled the edge of our land for the first time. When they find their way into newly planted patches with young seedlings, I occasionally pull a few to give the babies of other species more breathing room. But most of the time, the burnweeds are free to travel through the meadow, along the fence line, and in all the wood-chipped areas where we’ve smothered invasive grasses to make way for natives.
Rather than marring the view, they bask in the autumn light, releasing seeds that encircle their neighbors in a glowing halo.
Burnweed might even assist in cleaning up our messes; a Japanese study found that the plant gains high levels of nitrogen by assimilating nitrogen dioxide, which is formed by the burning of fossil fuels. Along with a few other plants tested—including species of eucalyptus, poplar, magnolia, and tobacco—burnweeds may act as a “sink” for the harmful air pollutant. “These plants are ecologically important,” the researchers noted, “and suited for use as vegetation in roadside green zones and parks to reduce the atmospheric concentration of NO2.”
But maybe we don’t need a scientific paper to extol the virtues of burnweed when we have insects like this little white-crossed seed bug to remind us. He’s a new friend I made this summer thanks to the burnweed bounty, and I look forward to making more such discoveries wherever the plants decide to grow in the coming years.
As an early-succession species, burnweeds lay the groundwork for whatever comes next, eventually dwindling in the face of increased competition and shade. Why not enjoy and appreciate them as their progeny floats like snow over the waning meadows, seeing each bit of fluff as a promise that life will emerge again next spring?
Watch more video clips of life in the burnweed on The Humane Gardener YouTube channel.
good morning in the garden with all the pollinators like bees and of course butterflies my favorite is the monarch butterfly with its toxic wings that they oppose with warning or apoesematic coloration they are right now making their annual migratory cycle from Mexico throughout the United states traveling thousands of miles up to 5 generations make that journey please keep me posted on upcoming emails. and did you know that the first pollinators to evolve were actually flies and beetles. e en our common house fly that we kill with a newspaper. i have been studying creatures and botany since i was a kid with the beautiful flora and fauna.
Hi Bryan, yes, it is a beautiful time of year with the monarchs and other migrating animals coming through! 🙂 Thanks for reminding us about the important role of flies and beetles as pollinators. I wish more people knew that!
Burnweed is a beautiful plant. I have planted it or I should say help it, grow in one of my side gardens. Almost all of the plants are at least seven feet tall. Am I mistaken or do the leaves turn over when the plant gets overheated or had enough sun for the day. Thank you..Ed
I am rather fond of the burnweed that grows on my property. It is usually full of the tuniest winged creatures.
Tiny creatures for little tiny fairy flowers! 🙂
They are a great addition to the golden rod and wild asters that bloom on my front yard ditch that was sprayed by Duke power a while ago.
I’m so sorry they got sprayed. I hope things have come back for you!
Wow! What a beautiful article! Informative and delightfully written in every way. I’m running outside to see if we’re fortunate to have any growing on our property. Thank you!
Thanks, Laura! I hope you found some! 🙂
I found one this morning and six more this afternoon when I returned to my garden after reading your lovely article.
I found one this morning and six more this afternoon when I returned to my garden after reading your lovely article.
Thank you so much for the American Burnweed article. I have pulled so much of this in 2022 not knowing anything about it, except WEED. There is a bit of it in the meadow across the street and now quite a bit between my back fence and the ravine behind us. You have armed us with the knowledge to let it be.
Oh good! Thanks, Tommie – I’m so glad it helped. 🙂
I love to read about the wildlife value of what most people consider weeds. I have left a few of these plants on my property. We have no near neighbors, so no one to complain, and the insects appreciate them. Thanks for the post.
Thanks – that’s great that you can let them be wild and free. 🙂
This was lovely!
Thank you! <3
Thank you Nancy, never thought of burnweed that way.
The bees are enjoying my golden rod.Yay
Yay for the goldenrods! I’ve been watching the stems bouncing under the weight of the bees! 🙂
Wonderful piece – and great photos. Another focus on letting the non-human world do what it does best, which is to take care of itself, even attempt to fix our mistakes! Thanks again.
Thanks, Barry! Learning about these largely unseen interactions always amazes me. 🙂
What a beautiful article on a much maligned plant. I will give it some breathing room.
Thanks, Theresa! <3
Hi Nancy
I always enjoy your articles!
It just seems like everything has it’s purpose…. I certainly have lots of places they may, and do, grow.
It’s a busy time of year for us (Ruth & I) and I am anxious to get Fall chores to get done so I can begin planting a plethora of trees that I’ve been growing on.
Perhaps we’ll see you at MANTS (in Baltimore) ?!?!
Bob Davis
Lancaster County Garden Club
PS …For some reason the pictures do not come up for me.
Hi Bob! Thank you! I hope you are Ruth are doing well and having a lovely start to fall. It is so beautiful – a perfect time for tree planting! I haven’t been to a MANTS show yet, but it would be fun to stop by this year.
It just took a while for the article pictures to download, I guess. Beautiful pictures and videos !!! … Bob
Good info!! Thanks Nancy!
Hi Karen, thanks! It was great to see you last weekend. <3
Thank you for this enlightening post! I’ve been wondering what this roadside “weed” is, pondering if it’s an invasive that needs to be pulled, but hadn’t yet bothered to look it up. I now know it by name and can appreciate all the ecosystem services it provides. 🙂
Awesome! Thank you for reading! 🙂
I love this post and your big-hearted appreciation for all the amazing flora that humans tend to discount and discard.
Thanks so much, Linda. <3 The plants teach us so much. Today I've been watching the catbirds and mockingbirds loudly guarding their pokeweed, another underappreciated gift!
I really enjoy reading your essays. Ever since you gave a presentation to the Reston Garden Club years ago, I have followed your posts. Reading them leaves me in a calm and meditative peace.
Hi Ellen, thank you! It makes me so happy to hear that it brings peace to your day. <3
Thanks so much. We had a whole field of burn weed in a recently cleared area – yes on our neighbors land, and didn’t know what to think. So helpful.
You’re quite welcome! 🙂 I hope you see lots of little critters in it.
Thank you Nancy! We have burnweed around our property. I have long been suspicious thinking it’s another non native thistle or something of the sorts. We will continue to let it do it’s thing and help support our little friends. Grateful for your educational support. Be well
That’s great that you have some and hadn’t pulled it yet! Thanks for reading. 🙂
Thanks, Nancy! You always open my eyes to things I have overlooked in life. Thank you.
I spent a ton of time watching the activity on this plant when the sun was setting behind it. I could see the tinys flicks of leaf bits seeming to be tossed every other second. SOoo many visitors. On each one there is ALWAYS a “daddy long legs”. I had read the Japanese article I found sited on a website when I googled the plant when it first showed up and I didn’t recongnize it. When I saw that it was actually beneficial they became part of the family. I had lady bug larva and pupa partying on the leaves as well as on poison ivy underneath an oak.
I know this plant, but not this way! Wow! Now, I am forever going to look at it differently. Thanks so much for opening my eyes every time I read what you have to say. Don’t ever stop! : )
Weeds ad bees have been given such a ad wrap for so long. It will take years of focused and deliberate effort to unravel this disservice and ham.
Hola Nancy! Spring’s beautiful down here. Our current guests have included some lizards, bumblebees and a giant hummingbird. Thank you for teaching us to embrace the wonders of nature in our own backyards.
Thank you for this. iNaturalist ID’d it as fireweed and also American burnweed. I have a huge patch of it, behind a milkweed patch: I’ll let all the fuzz fly!
Yay, more burnweed to go around! 🙂 Yes, the names can be confusing!
Its a volunteer in my petunia pot. I thought it is lovely with greenery so I have not pulled it yet!
Our situation was like yours—cut down pines and then burn weed appeared in mass—probably several hundred now marching toward the side of our house—we are intrigued by them and so glad to hear that pollinators love them as we are beekeepers and gardeners. Looking forward to their blooming event!
Only because of this article, when I go by burnweed now, I see it with different eyes. Thanks!
I’ve had this plant crop up along the edges of my yard for years and have always pulled it out—which is easy to do, it comes right up. I guess I’ll stop pulling it up after reading this. The More You Know and all that. Thank you for the info!
Our yellow finches love the burnwees we’ve let grow. They’re on it every day grabbing beakfulls of seeds.
I just weeded the left side of our lane, got rid of more Japanese siltgrass, but left the burnweed 👍😊
I appreciated the information in your article. Having moved to a more rural area I am seeing more plants that I don’t know. We lived in the suburbs, yuck. Trying to attract more butterflies and pollinators I want to keep the plants they will like. The burnweed will stay as many of the other native plants will. Thanks again! Blessings!
Hello Nancy!
I have left several little communities grow here and there on my property and seeing with woe that they had reached seven feet on both of my neighbors’ borders came in to discern what benefit could be attributed to them. So I will go forth (lol) armed with knowledge which I will deliver with flowery words.
THANK YOU!
Thank you! This was just the justification I needed to leave the volunteer in the middle of my prairie garden!
I just discovered this amazing plant. Thank you for the beautiful and informative article and pictures and the interesting comments.
Fabulous article! We have it and great qualities here on the farm