The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Carey's smartweed, renouée de Carey

Habit Plants annual, 3–15(–20) dm; roots also rarely arising from proximal nodes; rhizomes and stolons absent.
Stems

erect, branched distally, ribbed distally, hirsute proximally, stipitate-glandular distally, usually smooth proximally.

Leaves

ocrea brownish to reddish brown, cylindric, 8–20 mm, chartaceous, base inflated or not, margins truncate, ciliate with bristles 2–7 mm, surface strigose to hirsute, not glandular-punctate, rarely stipitate-glandular;

petiole (0.1–)0.5–1.5 cm, hirsute, leaves sometimes sessile;

blade without dark triangular or lunate blotch adaxially, narrowly lanceolate, 6–18 × 1–3.5 cm, base tapering, margins antrorsely strigose, apex acuminate to attenuate, faces sparingly hirsute abaxially and adaxially, veins often hirsute, sometimes stipitate-glandular.

Inflorescences

terminal and axillary, nodding or drooping, usually interrupted, 10–100 × 5–10 mm;

peduncle 20–50 mm, stipitate-glandular;

ocreolae overlapping or not overlapping proximally, margins eciliate or ciliate with bristles to 1.3 mm.

Pedicels

ascending to spreading, 1–4 mm.

Flowers

(1–)2–8 per ocreate fascicle, homostylous;

perianth roseate or purple, glabrous, not glandular-punctate, scarcely accrescent;

tepals 5, connate in proximal 1/3, obovate, 2.4–3.2 mm, veins prominent or not, not anchor-shaped, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded;

stamens 5 (or 8), included;

anthers pink, elliptic;

styles 2, connate to middle.

Achenes

included, dark brown to black, biconvex, 1.8–2.5 × 1.5–2 mm, shiny, smooth.

Persicaria careyi

Phenology Flowering Jul–Oct.
Habitat Low thickets, swamps, bogs, moist shorelines, clearings, recent burns, cultivated ground
Elevation 0-300 m (0-1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CT; DE; FL; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; VA; VT; WI; NB; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

An infusion made from entire plants of Persicaria careyi was used by the Potawatomi as a cold remedy and febrifuge (D. E. Moerman 1998).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 592.
Parent taxa Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Persicaria
Sibling taxa
P. amphibia, P. arifolia, P. bicornis, P. bungeana, P. capitata, P. chinensis, P. glabra, P. hirsuta, P. hydropiper, P. hydropiperoides, P. lapathifolia, P. longiseta, P. maculosa, P. meisneriana, P. minor, P. nepalensis, P. orientalis, P. pensylvanica, P. perfoliata, P. punctata, P. robustior, P. sagittata, P. setacea, P. virginiana, P. wallichii
Synonyms Polygonum careyi
Name authority (Olney) Greene: Leafl. Bot. Observ. Crit. 1: 24. (1904)
Web links