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dotted knotweed, dotted smartweed, renouée ponctuée, water smartweed

kiss-me-Over-the-garden-gate, Prince's-feather smartweed, princess-feather, renouée orientale

Habit Plants annual or perennial, 1.5–12 dm; roots also often arising from proximal nodes; rhizomes often present. Plants annual, 6–25 dm; roots not also arising from proximal nodes; rhizomes and stolons absent.
Stems

ascending to erect, branched, without noticeable ribs, glabrous, glandular-punctate.

erect, simple or branched distally, usually ribbed, strigose or glabrescent proximally, pilose to hirsute distally.

Leaves

ocrea brown, cylindric, (4–)9–18 mm, chartaceous, base inflated, margins truncate, ciliate with bristles 2–11 mm, surface glabrous or strigose, glandular-punctate;

petiole 0.1–1 cm, glandular-punctate, leaves sometimes sessile;

blade without dark triangular or lunate blotch adaxially, lanceolate to lanceolate-ovate or subrhombic, 4–10(–15) × 0.6–2.4 cm, base tapered or cuneate, margins antrorsely strigose, apex acute to acuminate, faces glabrous or scabrous along midveins, glandular-punctate.

ocrea brownish proximally, green distally, narrowly funnelform, 10–20 mm, chartaceous proximally, foliaceous distally, rarely chartaceous throughout, base inflated or not, margins truncate, ciliate with bristles 1–3 mm, surface densely strigose to hispid, not glandular-punctate;

petiole 1–8.5(–14) cm, densely pilose to hirsute;

blade without dark triangular or lunate blotch adaxially, ovate, 6–25(–30) × 3–17 cm, base cordate to truncate, margins scabrous to ciliate, apex acuminate, faces minutely strigose to densely hirsute, especially along veins abaxially, not glandular-punctate.

Inflorescences

mostly terminal, sometimes also axillary, erect, interrupted, 50–200 × 4–8 mm;

peduncle 30–60 mm, glabrous, glandular-punctate;

ocreolae mostly not overlapping, margins mostly ciliate with bristles to 2 mm.

mostly terminal, nodding or erect, uninterrupted, 10–150 × 8–18 mm;

peduncle 20–100 mm, hirsute;

ocreolae overlapping, margins ciliate with bristles 0.2–1 mm.

Pedicels

ascending, 1–4 mm.

ascending to spreading, 1–4 mm.

Flowers

2–6 per ocreate fascicle, homostylous;

perianth greenish proximally, white distally, rarely tinged pink, glandular-punctate with punctae ± uniformly distributed, scarcely accrescent;

tepals 5, connate ca. 1/3 their length, obovate, 3–3.5 mm, veins prominent or not, not anchor-shaped, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded;

stamens 6–8, included;

anthers pink or red, elliptic to ovate;

styles 2–3, connate proximally.

(1–)2–5 per ocreate fascicle, homostylous;

perianth roseate to red, glabrous, not glandular-punctate, slightly accrescent;

tepals 5, connate in proximal 1/3, obovate, 3–4.5 mm, veins prominent or not, not anchor-shaped, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded;

stamens 6–8, included or exserted;

anthers pink or red, elliptic;

styles 2, connate proximally.

Achenes

included or apex exserted, brownish black, usually 3-gonous, rarely biconvex, (1.8–)2.2–3.2 × 1.5–2.2 mm, shiny, smooth.

included, dark brown to black, discoid, 2.5–3.5 × 3–3.5 mm, shiny to dull, smooth to minutely granulate.

2n

= 44.

Persicaria punctata

Persicaria orientalis

Phenology Flowering Jun–Nov. Flowering Jun–Oct.
Habitat Shallow water, shores, marshes, floodplain forests Moist waste places
Elevation 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) 0-500 m (0-1600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
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; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; HI; BC; MB; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Mexico; West Indies (Puerto Rico); Central America (Guatemala); South America (Brazil)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CA; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; NB; ON; QC; s Asia (India) [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

N. C. Fassett (1949) proposed a complicated classification for Persicaria punctata with 12 varieties in North America and South America. He also identified numerous specimens that he considered to be morphologically intermediate between various varieties. M. Dalci (1972) documented a wide range of phenotypic and genotypic variation throughout the range of P. punctata and extensive overlap in many of the features used by Fassett to distinguish varieties. Consequently, recognition of varieties does not seem warranted. Persicaria punctata and its close relatives P. robustior and P. glabra are unique among native North American smartweeds in possessing complex glands called valvate chambers in their epidermises. Persicaria punctata is confused most frequently with P. hydropiper; the achenes are diagnostic.

The Chippewa, Houma, and Iroquois prepared decoctions from leaves, flowers, and roots for use as analgesics as well as gastrointestinal, orthopedic, and psychological aids (D. E. Moerman 1998).

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

Persicaria orientalis was introduced as a garden ornamental. It often persists around homesteads and barnyards, and occasionally escapes and becomes weedy in moist waste places. A collection made in 1853 by F. V. Hayden at Fort Pierre, South Dakota (MO), is assumed to have come from a cultivated plant.

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

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 586. FNA vol. 5, p. 591.
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. hydropiperoides, P. lapathifolia, P. longiseta, P. maculosa, P. meisneriana, P. minor, P. nepalensis, P. orientalis, P. pensylvanica, P. perfoliata, 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. nepalensis, P. pensylvanica, P. perfoliata, P. punctata, P. robustior, P. sagittata, P. setacea, P. virginiana, P. wallichii
Synonyms Polygonum punctatum, Polygonum acre var. leptostachyum, Polygonum punctatum var. confertiflorum, Polygonum punctatum var. ellipticum, Polygonum punctatum var. leptostachyum, Polygonum punctatum var. parviflorum, Polygonum punctatum var. parvum Polygonum orientale
Name authority (Elliott) Small: Fl. S.E. U.S., 379. (1903) (Linnaeus) Spach: Hist. Nat. Vég. 10: 537. (1841)
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