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bristly lady's-thumb, oriental lady's thumb, oriental lady's-thumb smartweed

Nepalese knotweed, Nepalese smartweed

Habit Plants annual, 3–8 dm; roots also often arising from proximal nodes; rhizomes and stolons absent. Plants annual, 3–5 dm; roots also often arising from proximal nodes.
Stems

decumbent to ascending, branched, without noticeable ribs, glabrous.

decumbent to ascending, glabrous except for fleshy, retrorse, whitish hairs at nodes.

Leaves

ocrea hyaline to brownish, cylindric, 5–12 mm, chartaceous, base sometimes inflated, margins truncate, ciliate with bristles 4–12 mm, surface glabrous or strigose, not glandular-punctate;

petiole 0.1–0.3(–0.6) cm, glabrous, leaves sometimes sessile;

blade without dark triangular or lunate blotch adaxially, ovate-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 2–8 × 1–3 cm, base tapering to cuneate, margins antrorsely strigose, apex acute to acuminate, faces glabrous or sparingly strigose along veins abaxially, glabrous or strigose along midvein and margins adaxially, not glandular-punctate.

ocrea brownish or hyaline, cylindric to funnelform, 4–10 mm, chartaceous, base inflated or not, margins oblique, eciliate, surface glabrous or with bristlelike hairs proximally;

petiole 0.1–3 cm, winged to base, leaves sometimes sessile;

blade ovate-deltate, 1.5–5 × 1–4 cm, base rounded to truncate, margins glabrous or scabrous, apex acute, faces pilose and glandular-punctate abaxially, glabrous adaxially.

Inflorescences

terminal, sometimes also axillary, erect, uninterrupted, 10–40(–80) × 3–7 mm;

peduncle 10–50 mm, glabrous;

ocreolae overlapping, margins ciliate with bristles (0.5–)1–4(–6) mm.

terminal and axillary, 5–10 × 5–10 mm;

peduncle 2–20 mm, apex stipitate-glandular;

ocreolae overlapping, margins eciliate.

Pedicels

ascending, 1–2 mm.

mostly ascending, 0.1–1 mm, flowers sometimes sessile.

Flowers

1–5 per ocreate fascicle, homostylous;

perianth pinkish green proximally, roseate distally, glabrous, not glandular-punctate, scarcely accrescent;

tepals 5, connate ca. 1/3 their length, obovate, 2.2–2.8 mm, veins not prominent, not anchor-shaped, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded;

stamens 5, included;

anthers yellow, elliptic to ovate;

styles 3, connate proximally.

1–2 per ocreate fascicle;

perianth white to pink or lavender, urceolate, glabrous, scarcely accrescent;

tepals 4(–5), oblong to broadly elliptic, 2.5–3 mm, apex acute to obtuse;

stamens (5–)8, filaments distinct, free;

anthers purplish black, elliptic;

styles 2, connate proximally.

Achenes

included, dark brown to black, 3-gonous, 1.6–2.3 × 1.1–1.6 mm, shiny, smooth.

included, dark brown to black, biconvex, 1.5–2 × 1–1.5 mm, dull, minutely punctate.

Persicaria longiseta

Persicaria nepalensis

Phenology Flowering May–Oct. Flowering Jul–Oct.
Habitat Floodplain forests and woodlands, shorelines of ponds, moist roadsides, waste places Disturbed sites, gravel bars in lowland zone
Elevation 0-300 m (0-1000 ft) 0-900 m (0-3000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; CT; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NJ; NY; OH; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; BC; NB; ON; e Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Europe]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CT; FL; MA; NY; PA; BC; Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Europe, Africa]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Persicaria longiseta is morphologically similar to another Asian species, P. posumbu (Buchanan-Hamilton ex D. Don) H. Gross (= P. caespitosa). Its spread in the United States since its introduction near Philadelphia in 1910 was summarized by A. K. Paterson (2000).

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

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 592. FNA vol. 5, p. 579.
Parent taxa Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Persicaria Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Cephalophilon
Sibling taxa
P. amphibia, P. arifolia, P. bicornis, P. bungeana, P. capitata, P. careyi, P. chinensis, P. glabra, P. hirsuta, P. hydropiper, P. hydropiperoides, P. lapathifolia, 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. bicornis, 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. orientalis, P. pensylvanica, P. perfoliata, P. punctata, P. robustior, P. sagittata, P. setacea, P. virginiana, P. wallichii
Synonyms Polygonum longisetum, P. caespitosa var. longiseta, Polygonum caespitosum var. longisetum Polygonum nepalense
Name authority (Bruijn) Kitagawa: Rep. Inst. Sci. Res. Manchoukuo 1: 322. (1937) (Meisner) H. Gross: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 49: 277. (1913)
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