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r enouée robuste, stout dotted smartweed, stout smartweed

heartweed, lady's-thumb, lady's-thumb smartweed, redshank, renouée persicaire, spotted lady's-thumb

Habit Plants perennial, 3–20 dm; roots also sometimes arising from proximal nodes; rhizomes present, stolons sometimes present. Plants annual, (0.5–)1–7(–13) dm; roots also often arising from proximal nodes; rhizomes and stolons absent.
Stems

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

branches sometimes creeping and rooting at nodes.

procumbent, decumbent, ascending, or erect, simple or branched, without obvious ribs, glabrous or appressed-pubescent.

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 light brown, cylindric, 4–10(–15) mm, chartaceous, base inflated, margins truncate, ciliate with hairs 1–3.5(–5) mm, surface glabrous or strigose, rarely with spreading hairs, not glandular-punctate;

petiole 0.1–0.8 cm, glabrous or strigose, leaves sometimes sessile;

blade often with dark triangular or lunate blotch adaxially, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, (1–)5–10(–18) × (0.2–)1–2.5(–4) cm, base tapered or cuneate, margins antrorsely strigose, apex acute to acuminate, faces glabrous or strigose, especially along midveins, sometimes glandular-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 and axillary, erect, usually uninterrupted, 10–45(–60) × 7–12 mm;

peduncle 10–50 mm, glabrous or, rarely, pubescent;

ocreolae overlapping or sometimes interrupted proximally, margins ciliate with bristles 0.2–1.3(–2) mm.

Pedicels

ascending to spreading, 2–5 mm.

ascending, 1–2.5 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.

4–14 per ocreate fascicle, homostylous;

perianth greenish white proximally and roseate distally or entirely roseate, not glandular-punctate, scarcely accrescent;

tepals 4–5, connate ca. 1/3 their length, obovate, 2–3.5 mm, veins prominent, not anchor-shaped, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded;

stamens 4–8, included;

anthers yellow or pink, ovate;

styles 2–3, 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 or apex exserted, brownish black to black, discoid or biconvex to 3-gonous, (1.9–)2–2.7 × (1.5–) 1.8–2.2 mm, shiny, smooth.

2n

= 44.

Persicaria robustior

Persicaria maculosa

Phenology Flowering Jul–Oct. Flowering Mar–Nov.
Habitat Peaty shores, often in water on coastal plain or near coast Weedy, moist semiwaste to cultivated areas
Elevation 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) 0-2500 m (0-8200 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
AK; 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; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM; Africa; Greenland; Eurasia; Pacific Islands (New Zealand) [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Persicaria robustior often is synonymized with P. punctata.

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

An allozyme study by L. L. Consaul et al. (1991) provided evidence of the allotetraploid origin of Persicaria maculosa, with P. lapathifolium as one of the parents. Plants with stems spreading-hairy and peduncles stipitate-glandular have been named P. maculosa subsp. hirsuticaulis (Danser) S. Ekman & Knutsson. Material referable to this subspecies has not been seen among North American specimens. Hybrids between P. maculosa and P. minor have been documented in Europe (R. H. Roberts 1977).

The Cherokee, Chippewa, and Iroquois prepared simple or compound decoctions of Persicaria maculosa, which they used as dermatological, urinary, gastrointestinal, and veterinary aids, for heart medicine, and as an analgesic (D. E. Moerman 1998).

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

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 584. FNA vol. 5, p. 593.
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. punctata, 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. 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 persicaria, P. fusiformis, P. vulgaris, Polygonum fusiforme, Polygonum persicaria var. ruderale, Polygonum puritanorum
Name authority (Small) E. P. Bicknell: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 36: 455. (1909) Gray: Nat. Arr. Brit. Pl. 2: 269. (1822)
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