Persicaria punctata (Ell.) Small - Dotted Smartweed


 

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Persicaria punctata - (image 1 of 6)

 

Taxonomy

Family: Polygonaceae

 

Synonymous with Polygonum punctatum Elliott

Habitat

Wet soil, open swamps, shallow water.

Associates

 

Distribution

Quebec to FL, west to the Pacific; also in tropical America.

Morphology

Rhizamotous perennial or taprooted annual; stems simple or branched, erect or ascending; leaves narrowly lanceolate or elliptic, glabrous, to 20 cm long and 2 cm wide; ocreae glabrous or strigous; racemes slender, erect or arched, to 10 cm, much interrupted especially below, the lower internodes up to 2-3 cm; flowers greenish; tepals 5, 2 mm; pedicels exsert 1-2 mm at maturity; achenes smooth and shiny, lenticular or trigonous, 2.4-3 mm long and 2/3 as wide.

Notes

Flowers July to October

Wetland indicator: OBL

One of a small number of smartweeds with glandular-dotted tepals. Others include P. robustior (racemes more densely flowered and leaves mostly 2-4.5 cm wide) and P. hydropiper (racemes also more densely flowered, tepals mostly 4, and achenes dull rather than shiny).

References

Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.

The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY

 

USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

 


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 Michael Hough © 2018