Polygonum ramosissimum |
Polygonum engelmannii |
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bushy knotweed, yellow knotweed, yellow-flower knotweed |
Engelmann's knotweed |
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Habit | Plants yellowish green or bluish green, (dark brown to black after drying in subsp. prolificum), heterophyllous or homophyllous. | Herbs. | ||||
Stems | erect, usually profusely branched in distal 1/2, not wiry, 10–100(–200) cm. |
erect, green or purplish brown, branched from base, not wiry, 4–30 cm, glabrous or minutely papillose-scabridulous. |
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Leaves | ocrea 6–12(–15) mm, proximal part cylindric, distal part silvery, soon disintegrating into persistent brown fibers; petiole 2–4 mm; blade variable, light yellowish green to bluish green, proximal often caducous, narrowly elliptic, lanceolate, or oblanceolate, rarely ovate, 8–70 × 4–18(–35) mm, margins flat, apex acute to acuminate or obtuse; distal leaves, either overtopping or shorter than or equaling flowers. |
uniformly distributed, articulated to ocreae, basal leaves persistent, distal leaves abruptly reduced to bracts; ocrea 3–5 mm, papillose-scabridulous or glabrous, proximal part funnelform, distal part becoming lacerate with age; petiole 0.1–2 mm; blade 1-veined, not pleated, linear-oblanceolate, 10–20(–25) × 1–3(–4) mm, margins revolute, smooth, apex acute to mucronate. |
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Inflorescences | axillary or axillary and terminal, spikelike; cymes uniformly distributed or crowded toward tips of branches, 2–5-flowered. |
axillary and terminal, spikelike, loosely floriferous nearly to base, elongate; cymes spaced along branches, (1–)2–4-flowered. |
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Pedicels | enclosed in or exserted from ocreae, 1–6 mm. |
exserted from ocreae, reflexed, 1–3 mm. |
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Flowers | closed; perianth (2–)2.2–3.6(–4) mm; tube 20–38% of perianth length; tepals overlapping, greenish yellow with greenish yellow or yellow, rarely pink or white, margins, petaloid or sepaloid, not keeled, elliptic to oblong, cucullate; midveins thickened or not; stamens 3–6(–8). |
closed; perianth 1.5–2(–2.5) mm; tube 18–26% of perianth length; tepals initially overlapping and cucullate, later forced apart by developing achene, greenish or sometimes purple, with white margins, petaloid or sepaloid, oblong, ± flat or navicular, apex rounded; midveins unbranched; stamens 5–8. |
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Achenes | enclosed in or exserted from perianth, dark brown, ovate, 3-gonous, 1.6–3.5 mm, faces subequal, concave, apex not beaked, edges straight, shiny or dull, usually smooth to roughened, sometimes uniformly or obscurely tubercled; late-season achenes common, 4–15 mm. |
exserted from perianth, black, elliptic, 1.2–2.3 mm, faces subequal, shiny, smooth. |
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Polygonum ramosissimum |
Polygonum engelmannii |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Sep. | |||||
Habitat | Dry to moist sandy or well-drained soils, sagebrush desert to lower mountains | |||||
Elevation | 1000-1500 m (3300-4900 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DE; 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; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK
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CO; ID; MT; NV; SD; UT; WY; AB; BC |
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Discussion | Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). Polygonum ramosissimum exhibits considerable morphological complexity and is similar in difficulty to the P. aviculare complex. Further research is necessary to understand the infraspecific variability of this species (M. Costea and F. J. Tardif 2003b). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 551. | FNA vol. 5, p. 569. | ||||
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Polygonum > sect. Polygonum | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Polygonum > sect. Duravia | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | P. douglasii subsp. engelmannii | |||||
Name authority | Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 237. (1803) | Greene: Bull. Calif. Acad. Sci. 1: 126. (1885) | ||||
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