Persicaria capitata |
Persicaria meisneriana |
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Himalayan smartweed, Japanese knotweed, pink bubble persicaria, pink-head knotweed, pink-head persicaria, pinkhead smartweed |
Mexican tearthumb |
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Habit | Plants annual or perennial, 0.5–5 dm; roots also often arising from proximal nodes. | |
Stems | prostrate, glabrous or glandular-pubescent. |
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Leaves | ocrea brown or reddish brown, cylindric to funnelform, 5–12 mm, chartaceous, base inflated or not, margins oblique, eciliate or ciliate with bristles to 1.5 mm, surface lanate, sometimes also glandular-pubescent; petiole 2–5 mm, winged distally; blade ovate to elliptic, 1.5–4(–6) × 0.6–2.5(–3.3) cm, base cuneate or tapering, margins ciliate with reddish, multicellular hairs, apex acute, faces glandular-pubescent abaxially and adaxially, not glandular-punctate. |
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Inflorescences | terminal, 5–20 × 7-18 mm; peduncle 10–40 mm, glabrous or stipitate-glandular in distal 1/5; ocreolae overlapping, margins eciliate. |
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Pedicels | spreading, 0.5–1 mm. |
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Flowers | 1–5 per ocreate fascicle; perianth greenish white proximally, pinkish distally, urceolate, glabrous, nonaccrescent; tepals 5, elliptic, 2–3 mm, apex acute to obtuse; stamens 8, filaments distinct, free; anthers pink to red, elliptic; styles 3, connate to middle or distally. |
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Achenes | included, reddish brown to brownish black, 3-gonous, 1.5–2.2 × 1–1.5 mm, shiny, smooth or minutely punctate. |
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Persicaria capitata |
Persicaria meisneriana |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Sep. | |
Habitat | Disturbed, urban places | |
Elevation | 0-500 m (0-1600 ft) | |
Distribution |
CA; LA; OR; Asia (Bhutan, w China, n India, Nepal) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in the Pacific Islands (Hawaii)]
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FL; GA; LA; SC; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; se Africa |
Discussion | Persicaria capitata is planted as a garden groundcover. It escapes infrequently in the flora area; once established outside of cultivation it can be difficult to eradicate. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 579. | FNA vol. 5, p. 578. |
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Cephalophilon | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Echinocaulon |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Polygonum capitatum | Polygonum meisnerianum |
Name authority | (Buchanan-Hamilton ex D. Don) H. Gross: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 49: 277. (1913) | (Chamisso & Schlechtendal) M. Gómez: Anales Inst. Segunda Enseñ. 2: 278. (1896) |
Web links |