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r enouée robuste, stout dotted smartweed, stout smartweed

Chinese knotweed, Chinese smartweed

Habit Plants perennial, 3–20 dm; roots also sometimes arising from proximal nodes; rhizomes present, stolons sometimes present. Plants perennial, 7–10 dm; roots not also arising from proximal nodes; rhizomes present.
Stems

ascending, usually branched proximally, scarcely ribbed, glabrous, glandular-punctate;

branches sometimes creeping and rooting at nodes.

ascending to erect, sometimes scandent, glabrous or retrorsely hispid.

Leaves

ocrea light brown, cylindric, 10–15 mm, chartaceous, base inflated, margins truncate, ciliate with bristles 3–12 mm, surface strigose, glandular-punctate;

petiole 0.2–2 cm, glandular-punctate;

blade without dark triangular or lunate blotch adaxially, lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, 4–20 × 2–4.5 cm, base tapered, margins antrorsely strigose, apex acute to acuminate, faces glabrous or main veins scabrous, glandular-punctate.

ocrea brownish, cylindric, 15–25(–50) mm, coriaceous proximally, chartaceous distally, base often inflated, margins oblique, eciliate, surface glabrous or pubescent;

petiole 1–2.5 cm, winged at least distally;

blade lanceolate to ovate or elliptic, 4–16 × 1.5–8 cm, base truncate to broadly cordate, margins glabrous or antrorsely scabrous with whitish hairs, apex acuminate, faces glabrous or hispid abaxially and adaxially, sometimes pubescent only along veins abaxially, not glandular-punctate but often minutely reddish-punctate abaxially.

Inflorescences

terminal and axillary, erect, uninterrupted, 20–80 × 5–10 mm;

peduncle 5–40 mm, glandular-punctate;

ocreolae usually overlapping, margins eciliate or proximal ones sometimes ciliate with bristles to 1 mm.

terminal or terminal and axillary, 3–6 × 3–6 mm;

peduncle 10–30 mm, stipitate-glandular along entire length;

ocreolae overlapping, margins eciliate.

Pedicels

ascending to spreading, 2–5 mm.

mostly ascending, 2–3 mm.

Flowers

2–4 per ocreate fascicle, homostylous;

perianth greenish proximally, white distally, glandular-punctate with punctae ± uniformly distributed, slightly accrescent;

tepals 5, connate ca.1/3 their length, obovate, 3.2–4.2 mm, veins prominent or not, not anchor-shaped, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded;

stamens 6–8, included;

anthers pink or red, elliptic;

styles 3, connate proximally.

1–3 per ocreate fascicle;

perianth white to pink, campanulate, glabrous, accrescent;

tepals 5, ovate, 3–4 mm, apex acute to obtuse;

stamens 8, filaments distinct, free;

anthers red or purple, elliptic;

styles 3, connate proximally.

Achenes

included or apex exserted, dark brown to brownish black, 3-gonous, 2.7–3.6 × 2–2.5 mm, shiny, smooth.

included in fleshy, bluish black perianth, black, 3-gonous, 2.8–4 × 2–3 mm, dull, minutely punctuate.

Persicaria robustior

Persicaria chinensis

Phenology Flowering Jul–Oct. Flowering Jul–Oct.
Habitat Peaty shores, often in water on coastal plain or near coast Disturbed places
Elevation 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) 0–100 m (0–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CT; DE; FL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; TX; VA; NS; ON; QC; Central America; South America; West Indies
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
MA; MD; NJ; Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in the Pacific Islands (Hawaii)]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Persicaria robustior often is synonymized with P. punctata.

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

Varieties of Persicaria chinensis have been distinguished on the basis of stem pubescence, leaf shape, and leaf size. Whether those taxa merit recognition in the flora area is uncertain.

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

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 584. FNA vol. 5, p. 580.
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. longiseta, P. maculosa, P. meisneriana, P. minor, P. nepalensis, P. orientalis, P. pensylvanica, P. perfoliata, P. punctata, P. sagittata, P. setacea, P. virginiana, P. wallichii
P. amphibia, P. arifolia, P. bicornis, P. bungeana, P. capitata, P. careyi, 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 punctatum var. robustius, P. punctata var. robustior, Polygonum punctatum var. majus, Polygonum robustius Polygonum chinense
Name authority (Small) E. P. Bicknell: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 36: 455. (1909) (Linnaeus) H. Gross: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 49: 269. (1913)
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