Persicaria arifolia |
Persicaria meisneriana |
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halberd-leaf smartweed, halberd-leaf tearthumb, renouée à feuilles d'arum |
Mexican tearthumb |
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Habit | Plants annual, 2–15 dm; roots also often arising from proximal nodes. | |
Stems | scandent, ribbed, glabrous; prickles 0.5–1 mm. |
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Leaves | ocrea tan or brownish, cylindric, 8–15 mm, chartaceous, base inflated or not, with prickles, margins oblique, ciliate with bristles 0.5–2.5 mm, surface glabrous or appressed- to spreading-pubescent; petiole 1–7 cm; blade broadly hastate to hastate-cordate or triangular, (2–)6.5–13(–18) × (1–)6–11(–16) cm, base truncate to truncate-cordate, margins broadly hastate with lobes divergent, ciliate, sometimes also retrorsely prickly, apex acuminate, faces appressed-pubescent or, rarely, glabrous adaxially, stellate-pubescent or, rarely, glabrous abaxially, major veins often bearing prickles. |
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Inflorescences | capitate or paniclelike, uninterrupted, 5–12 × 3–8 mm; peduncle 10–80 mm, retrorsely prickly proximally, stellate-pubescent and stipitate-glandular distally, glands red or pink; ocreolae usually overlapping, sometimes not overlapping proximally, margins eciliate or ciliate with bristles to 0.5 mm. |
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Pedicels | mostly ascending, 2–3 mm. |
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Flowers | 2–4 per ocreate fascicle; perianth pink or red, often whitish green proximally, glabrous, accrescent, not becoming blue and fleshy in fruit; tepals 4, connate 1/3–1/2 their length, broadly elliptic, 5–6 mm, apex acute to obtuse; stamens (6–)8, filaments distinct, free; anthers pink, elliptic; styles 2, distinct. |
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Achenes | included, dark brown to black, biconvex, 3.5–6 × 3–4 mm, shiny, smooth. |
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Persicaria arifolia |
Persicaria meisneriana |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Oct. | |
Habitat | Shaded swamps, ponds, tidal marshes along rivers, wet ravines in forests | |
Elevation | 0-600 m (0-2000 ft) | |
Distribution |
CT; DC; DE; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC
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FL; GA; LA; SC; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; se Africa |
Discussion | Varieties 2 (1 in the flora). Variety meisneriana has leaves with petioles 0.3–1 cm, blades prominently sagittate to hastate at bases, and ocreae usually moderately to densely pubescent. It is found only in South America (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 577. | FNA vol. 5, p. 578. |
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Echinocaulon | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Echinocaulon |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Polygonum arifolium, Polygonum arifolium var. lentiforme, Polygonum arifolium var. pubescens, Polygonum sagittatum var. pubescens, Tracaulon arifolium, Truellum arifolium | Polygonum meisnerianum |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Haraldson: Acta Univ. Upsal., Symb. Bot. Upsal. 22: 72. (1978) | (Chamisso & Schlechtendal) M. Gómez: Anales Inst. Segunda Enseñ. 2: 278. (1896) |
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