Taxonomy
Family: Polygonaceae
Synonymous with Polygonella articulata (L.) Meisn.
Habitat
Dry, open sandy areas.
Associates
Distribution
On the coastal plain and occasionally inland from ME and southern Quebec to northeast NC; also on shores of the Great Lakes and inland dunes to southern IL, IA, and MN.
Morphology
Annual; stem slender, 10-50 cm, branched at least above; leaves narrow, revolute, 5-20 mm, 1 mm wide or less, not hyaline-margined; racemes erect or ascending, 2-3.5 cm; pedicels 2-3 mm, slender, decurved; flowers perfect; tepals white or greenish to pink or red, 1.5-2 mm, larger in fruit, the outer two obovate, keeled above, the inner three elliptic, all remaining loosely appressed; achene 2-2.5 mm.
Notes
Flowers August to September
Wetland indicator: NA
Traditionally included in a segregate genus Polygonella Michx. which included 11 species distinguished in having the branches adnate to the stem and therefore appearing to arise from between the nodes of the stem.
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 |