Polygonum erectum |
Polygonum aviculare |
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devil's shoestring, erect knotweed, renouée dressée, upright knotweed, wireweed |
birdweed, common knotgrass, common knotweed, doorweed, dooryard knotweed, knotgrass, knotweed, lowgrass, pigweed, prostrate knotweed, renouée des oiseaux, yard knotweed |
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Habit | Plants light green or yellowish, heterophyllous. | Plants green or bluish green, green after drying, sometimes whitish from powdery mildew, homophyllous or heterophyllous. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | erect to ascending, sparingly branched in distal 1/2, not wiry, 15–75 cm. |
prostrate to erect, branched, flexuous, 5–200 cm. |
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Leaves | ocrea 7–12 mm, proximal part cylindric, distal part usually persistent, with strong veins, margins entire or lacerate, silvery, later disintegrating into ± persistent brown fibers; petiole 1–5 mm; blade light green or yellowish, elliptic to obovate, 30–60(–80) × (8–)10–25 mm, margins flat, apex obtuse; stem leaves 1.5–3.5(–4) times longer than branch leaves; distal leaves overtopping flowers in distal part of inflorescence. |
ocrea 3–15 mm, proximal part cylindric or ± funnelform, distal part silvery, hyaline, soon disintegrating into persistent fibers or nearly completely deciduous; petiole 0.3–9 mm; blade green to gray-green, narrowly elliptic, lanceolate, elliptic, obovate, or spatulate, 6–50(–60) × 0.5–22 mm, margins flat, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded; stem leaves 1–4 times as long as adjacent branch leaves; distal leaves overtopping flowers. |
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Inflorescences | axillary; cymes in axils of most leaves and toward tips of stems and branchs, 1–5-flowered. |
axillary; cymes uniformly distributed or aggregated at tips of stems and branches, 1–6(–8)-flowered. |
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Pedicels | mostly exserted from ocreae, 3–7 mm. |
enclosed in or exserted from ocreae, 1.5–5 mm. |
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Flowers | closed; perianth 2.8–3.8(–4.2) mm; tube 20–37% of perianth length; tepals overlapping, green with yellowish, rarely whitish green, margins, sepaloid, not keeled, oblong to obovate, cucullate; midveins branched, moderately to heavily thickened; stamens 7–8. |
closed or semi-open; perianth 1.8–5.5 mm; tube 20–57% of perianth length; tepals overlapping or not, green or reddish brown with white, pink, or red margins, petaloid, not keeled, oblong to obovate, often cucullate in fruit; midveins branched or unbranched, thickened or not; stamens 5–8. |
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Achenes | enclosed in perianth, brown to tan, ovate, 3-gonous, 2.3–3.5 mm, faces subequal, ± concave, apex not beaked, edges concave, dull, striate-tubercled; late-season achenes uncommon, 4–5 mm. |
enclosed in or exserted from perianth, light to dark brown, ovate, (2–)3-gonous, 1.2–4.2 mm, faces subequal or unequal, apex not beaked, edges slightly concave, dull, usually coarsely striate-tubercled, sometimes obscurely tubercled; late-season achenes common or not, 2–5 mm. |
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Polygonum erectum |
Polygonum aviculare |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Oct. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Dry, waste ground | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 10-300 m (0-1000 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AL; AR; CO; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; ON; QC; SK
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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; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; nearly worldwide
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Discussion | Polygonum erectum was cultivated in the midwest by Native Americans for its starchy seeds (C. M. Scarry 1993). It was formerly confused with P. achoreum (T. R. Mertens and P. H. Raven 1965). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Subspecies 7+ (6 in the flora). Polygonum aviculare is a taxonomically controversial polyploid complex of selfing annuals. Although members of the complex have been considered inbreeders, they possess some structures that make cross pollination possible. Cleistogamous and chasmogamous flowers, heterostyly, protandry, and the capacity to secrete nectar suggest an ancestral mixed-mating system. Isoenzyme studies showed that the complex has an allopolyploid origin (P. Meerts et al. 1998) and has evolved as a swarm of inbreeding lines (“Jordanons”) (J. Gasquez et al. 1978). The six subspecies included here have been treated variously (T. Karlsson 2000; M. Costea and F. J. Tardif 2003). Complex intergradation patterns among them make their recognition at the species level impractical. Multivariate analysis and isoenzyme studies show that populations with intermediate characteristics may occur (Meerts et al. 1990, 1998). Except for subsp. boreale, which occurs in Greenland and Labrador, all subspecies are partially sympatric and their distributions have been influenced greatly by humans. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 550. | FNA vol. 5, p. 556. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Polygonum > sect. Polygonum | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Polygonum > sect. Polygonum | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 363. (1753) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 362. (1753) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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