Persicaria bicornis |
Persicaria maculosa |
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pink smartweed |
heartweed, lady's-thumb, lady's-thumb smartweed, redshank, renouée persicaire, spotted lady's-thumb |
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Habit | Plants annual, 2–18 dm; roots also rarely arising from basal nodes; rhizomes and stolons absent. | Plants annual, (0.5–)1–7(–13) dm; roots also often arising from proximal nodes; rhizomes and stolons absent. |
Stems | ascending to erect, rarely decumbent, branched, ribbed, glabrous or appressed-pubescent to spreading-pubescent distally, stipitate-glandular or, rarely, without stipitate-glands. |
procumbent, decumbent, ascending, or erect, simple or branched, without obvious ribs, glabrous or appressed-pubescent. |
Leaves | ocrea brownish, cylindric, 6–20 mm, chartaceous, base inflated, margins truncate, eciliate or ciliate with bristles to 1 mm, surface glabrous or scabrous proximally, eglandular; petiole 0.1–1.5(–2.3) cm, glabrous or appressed-pubescent; blade sometimes with dark triangular or lunate blotch adaxially, linear-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 2.3–13(–18) × (0.4–)1–2.3 cm, base tapered to cuneate, margins antrorsely scabrous, apex acute to acuminate, faces glabrous or appressed-pubescent along midveins, glandular-punctate abaxially. |
ocrea light brown, cylindric, 4–10(–15) mm, chartaceous, base inflated, margins truncate, ciliate with hairs 1–3.5(–5) mm, surface glabrous or strigose, rarely with spreading hairs, not glandular-punctate; petiole 0.1–0.8 cm, glabrous or strigose, leaves sometimes sessile; blade often with dark triangular or lunate blotch adaxially, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, (1–)5–10(–18) × (0.2–)1–2.5(–4) cm, base tapered or cuneate, margins antrorsely strigose, apex acute to acuminate, faces glabrous or strigose, especially along midveins, sometimes glandular-punctate abaxially. |
Inflorescences | terminal and axillary, erect, uninterrupted, 8–60 × 10–18 mm; peduncle 8–60(–70) mm, glabrous or pubescent, usually stipitate-glandular; ocreolae overlapping, margins eciliate or ciliate with bristles to 0.8 mm. |
terminal and axillary, erect, usually uninterrupted, 10–45(–60) × 7–12 mm; peduncle 10–50 mm, glabrous or, rarely, pubescent; ocreolae overlapping or sometimes interrupted proximally, margins ciliate with bristles 0.2–1.3(–2) mm. |
Pedicels | ascending, 1.5–5 mm. |
ascending, 1–2.5 mm. |
Flowers | 2–11 per ocreate fascicle, heterostylous; perianth pink, glabrous, not glandular-punctate, accrescent; tepals 5, connate ca. 1/4–1/3 their length, obovate to elliptic, 3–4.6 mm, veins prominent, not anchor-shaped, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded; stamens 6–8, included or exserted; anthers pink or red, elliptic; styles 2(–3), included or exserted, connate at bases. |
4–14 per ocreate fascicle, homostylous; perianth greenish white proximally and roseate distally or entirely roseate, not glandular-punctate, scarcely accrescent; tepals 4–5, connate ca. 1/3 their length, obovate, 2–3.5 mm, veins prominent, not anchor-shaped, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded; stamens 4–8, included; anthers yellow or pink, ovate; styles 2–3, connate proximally. |
Achenes | included or apex exserted, brownish black to black, discoid or, rarely, 3-gonous, 1 side usually slightly concave and other with central hump, (2–)2.2–2.9 × 2–2.8(–3) mm, shiny, smooth. |
included or apex exserted, brownish black to black, discoid or biconvex to 3-gonous, (1.9–)2–2.7 × (1.5–) 1.8–2.2 mm, shiny, smooth. |
2n | = 44. |
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Persicaria bicornis |
Persicaria maculosa |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Oct. | Flowering Mar–Nov. |
Habitat | Moist, disturbed places, permanent and ephemeral wetlands, ditches, cultivated fields, shorelines of ponds and reservoirs | Weedy, moist semiwaste to cultivated areas |
Elevation | 50-1600 m (200-5200 ft) | 0-2500 m (0-8200 ft) |
Distribution |
AR; CO; IA; IL; KS; LA; MO; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; WY
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AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM; Africa; Greenland; Eurasia; Pacific Islands (New Zealand) [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | Persicaria bicornis is a characteristic smartweed of permanent and ephemeral wetlands and moist, disturbed sites in the Great Plains. It often has been included in P. pensylvanica but can be distinguished readily by its heterostylous flowers. The achenes, which usually bear an obscure or prominent hump in the center of one face, also are diagnostic. This hump often ruptures the side of the perianth on fruiting herbarium specimens. Persicaria bicornis also has leaf blades that are on average narrower than are those of P. pensylvanica, and populations exhibit less variation in perianth color. As in P. pensylvanica, flowers with three styles and trigonous achenes are produced very rarely. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
An allozyme study by L. L. Consaul et al. (1991) provided evidence of the allotetraploid origin of Persicaria maculosa, with P. lapathifolium as one of the parents. Plants with stems spreading-hairy and peduncles stipitate-glandular have been named P. maculosa subsp. hirsuticaulis (Danser) S. Ekman & Knutsson. Material referable to this subspecies has not been seen among North American specimens. Hybrids between P. maculosa and P. minor have been documented in Europe (R. H. Roberts 1977). The Cherokee, Chippewa, and Iroquois prepared simple or compound decoctions of Persicaria maculosa, which they used as dermatological, urinary, gastrointestinal, and veterinary aids, for heart medicine, and as an analgesic (D. E. Moerman 1998). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 589. | FNA vol. 5, p. 593. |
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Persicaria | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Persicaria |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Polygonum bicorne, P. longistyla, Polygonum longistylum | Polygonum persicaria, P. fusiformis, P. vulgaris, Polygonum fusiforme, Polygonum persicaria var. ruderale, Polygonum puritanorum |
Name authority | (Rafinesque) Nieuwland: Amer. Midl. Naturalist 3: 201. (1914) | Gray: Nat. Arr. Brit. Pl. 2: 269. (1822) |
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