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.
Michael Hough © 2018 |