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false water pepper, false water-pepper smartweed, mild waterpepper, renouée faux-poivre-d'eau, swamp smartweed, water-pepper

pink smartweed

Habit Plants perennial, 1.5–10 dm; roots also often arising from proximal nodes; rhizomes often present. Plants annual, 2–18 dm; roots also rarely arising from basal nodes; rhizomes and stolons absent.
Stems

decumbent to ascending, usually branched, without noticeable ribs, glabrous or obscurely strigose distally.

ascending to erect, rarely decumbent, branched, ribbed, glabrous or appressed-pubescent to spreading-pubescent distally, stipitate-glandular or, rarely, without stipitate-glands.

Leaves

ocrea brown, cylindric, 5–23 mm, chartaceous, base inflated, margins truncate, ciliate with bristles (2–)4–10 mm, surface glabrous or strigose, not glandular-punctate;

petiole 0.2–2 cm, glabrous or strigose;

blade without dark triangular or lunate blotch adaxially, broadly lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 5–25 × 0.4–3.7 cm, base tapered or acute, margins antrorsely appressed-pubescent, apex acuminate, faces glabrous or appressed-pubescent along midveins and sometimes on faces, usually punctate abaxially.

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.

Inflorescences

terminal, sometimes also axillary, erect, uninterrupted or interrupted proximally, 30–80 × 2–5 mm;

peduncle 10–30 mm, glabrous or strigose;

ocreolae overlapping distally, often not overlapping proximally, margins ciliate with bristles to 2(–3) mm.

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.

Pedicels

ascending, 1–1.5 mm.

ascending, 1.5–5 mm.

Flowers

bisexual or unisexual and staminate, 2–6 per ocreate fascicle, homostylous;

perianth roseate proximally, roseate, white, or greenish white distally, not glandular-punctate or sometimes glandular-punctate with punctae on tubes and inner tepals, scarcely accrescent;

tepals 5, connate ca. 1/3–1/2 their length, obovate, 2.5–4 mm in bisexual flowers, 1.5–2.5 mm in staminate flowers, veins prominent or not, not anchor-shaped, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded;

stamens 8, included or exserted in staminate flowers;

anthers pink or red, elliptic to ovate;

styles 3, connate near middle.

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.

Achenes

included or apex exserted, brown to brownish black or black, 3-gonous, 1.5–3 × 1–2.3 mm, shiny, smooth.

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.

Persicaria hydropiperoides

Persicaria bicornis

Phenology Flowering Jun–Nov. Flowering Jun–Oct.
Habitat Wet banks and clearings, shallow water, marshes, moist prairies, ditches Moist, disturbed places, permanent and ephemeral wetlands, ditches, cultivated fields, shorelines of ponds and reservoirs
Elevation 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) 50-1600 m (200-5200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; BC; NB; NS; ON; QC; Mexico; Central America; South America
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AR; CO; IA; IL; KS; LA; MO; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The extreme variability in Persicaria hydropiperoides is reflected in its extensive synonymy. Among the segregates most often recognized in floras and checklists is P. opelousana, which C. B. McDonald (1980) showed to be broadly sympatric and highly interfertile with P. hydropiperoides. Consistent with this conclusion, R. S. Mitchell (1971) found that P. hydropiperoides and P. opelousana are unique among native North American smartweeds in consistently possessing multicellular plate-glands on the abaxial surface of their leaves. Such glands also are found on P. maculosa, an introduced European species.

Herbarium specimens of Persicaria hydropiperoides sometimes are misidentified as P. maculosa, especially when the roots are missing. The former species may be distinguished reliably by its achenes all trigonous (trigonous and biconvex achenes are mixed in the inflorescences of P. maculosa) and bristles on the margins of the ocreae that average longer. M. L. Fernald (1922c) reported hybrids with P. robustior from Nova Scotia.

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

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.)

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 585. FNA vol. 5, p. 589.
Parent taxa Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Persicaria Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Persicaria
Sibling taxa
P. amphibia, P. arifolia, P. bicornis, P. bungeana, P. capitata, P. careyi, P. chinensis, P. glabra, P. hirsuta, P. hydropiper, 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
P. amphibia, P. arifolia, P. bungeana, P. capitata, P. careyi, 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 hydropiperoides, P. opelousana, P. paludicola, Polygonum hydropiperoides var. adenocalyx, Polygonum hydropiperoides var. asperifolium, Polygonum hydropiperoides var. breviciliatum, Polygonum hydropiperoides var. bushianum, Polygonum hydropiperoides var. digitatum, Polygonum hydropiperoides var. opelousanum, Polygonum hydropiperoides var. psilostachyum, Polygonum opelousanum, Polygonum opelousanum var. adenocalyx Polygonum bicorne, P. longistyla, Polygonum longistylum
Name authority (Michaux) Small: Fl. S.E. U.S., 378. (1903) (Rafinesque) Nieuwland: Amer. Midl. Naturalist 3: 201. (1914)
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