Burke: Persicaria hydropiperoides vs. Persicaria capitata

	Persicaria hydropiperoides	Persicaria capitata
	water pepper, swamp smartweed
Habit	Herbaceous perennial, up to 1 m. tall, usually decumbent and tending to root freely.
Leaves	Leaves numerous on short petioles, alternate, scarcely reduced upward, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate with an acute base, 5-12 cm. long; sheathing stipules 1-2 cm. long with bristly hairs around the top.
Flowers	Inflorescence of 2 or more spike-like, interrupted racemes; perianth greenish to white or pinkish, 2.5-3 mm. long, 5-lobed half the length, the segments oblong and sub-equal; stamens 8 with short filaments
Fruits	Achene with three sharp angles, black, smooth and shining, about 3 mm. long.

	Persicaria hydropiperoides	Persicaria capitata
Flowering time	July-September
Habitat	Moist to swampy areas, often growing in mud, from the lowlands to the lower mountain valleys.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Mexico and South America, east across North America to the Atlantic coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	P. amphibia, P. hydropiper, P. lapathifolia, P. maculosa, P. punctata, P. wallichii	P. amphibia, P. hydropiper, P. hydropiperoides, P. lapathifolia, P. maculosa, P. punctata, P. wallichii
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: CA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Persicaria hydropiperoides

Persicaria capitata

water pepper, swamp smartweed

Habit

Herbaceous perennial, up to 1 m. tall, usually decumbent and tending to root freely.

Leaves

Leaves numerous on short petioles, alternate, scarcely reduced upward, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate with an acute base, 5-12 cm. long; sheathing stipules 1-2 cm. long with bristly hairs around the top.

Flowers

Inflorescence of 2 or more spike-like, interrupted racemes;

perianth greenish to white or pinkish, 2.5-3 mm. long, 5-lobed half the length, the segments oblong and sub-equal;

stamens 8 with short filaments

Fruits

Achene with three sharp angles, black, smooth and shining, about 3 mm. long.

Persicaria hydropiperoides

Persicaria capitata

Flowering time

July-September

Habitat

Moist to swampy areas, often growing in mud, from the lowlands to the lower mountain valleys.

Distribution

Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Mexico and South America, east across North America to the Atlantic coast.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa

P. amphibia, P. hydropiper, P. lapathifolia, P. maculosa, P. punctata, P. wallichii