Persicaria wallichii |
Persicaria nepalensis |
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garden knotweed, garden smartweed, Himalayan knotweed, Kashmir plume |
Nepalese knotweed, Nepalese smartweed |
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Habit | Plants annual, 3–5 dm; roots also often arising from proximal nodes. | |
Stems | decumbent to ascending, glabrous except for fleshy, retrorse, whitish hairs at nodes. |
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Leaves | 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. |
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Inflorescences | terminal and axillary, 5–10 × 5–10 mm; peduncle 2–20 mm, apex stipitate-glandular; ocreolae overlapping, margins eciliate. |
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Pedicels | mostly ascending, 0.1–1 mm, flowers sometimes sessile. |
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Flowers | 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. |
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Achenes | included, dark brown to black, biconvex, 1.5–2 × 1–1.5 mm, dull, minutely punctate. |
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Persicaria wallichii |
Persicaria nepalensis |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Oct. | |
Habitat | Disturbed sites, gravel bars in lowland zone | |
Elevation | 0-900 m (0-3000 ft) | |
Distribution |
CA; MA; OR; BC; Asia
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CT; FL; MA; NY; PA; BC; Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Europe, Africa] |
Discussion | Varieties 2 (1 in the flora). Persicaria wallichii is an ornamental that escapes infrequently in the flora area. A population in Nova Scotia apparently was ephemeral. Plants with leaf blades sparsely to densely pubescent abaxially and pedicels glabrous are var. wallichii, to which naturalized North American plants appear to be referable. Plants with leaf blades brownish-tomentose abaxially and pedicels usually pubescent are var. tomentosa S. P. Hong, which may be in cultivation in North America. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 581. | FNA vol. 5, p. 579. |
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Rubrivena | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Persicaria > sect. Cephalophilon |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Polygonum polystachyum, Aconogonon polystachyum, Pleuropteropyrum polystachyum, Reynoutria polystachya, Rubrivena polystachya | Polygonum nepalense |
Name authority | Greuter & Burdet: Willdenowia 19: 41. (1989) | (Meisner) H. Gross: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 49: 277. (1913) |
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