Pennsylvania Smartweed, Persicaria pensylvanica
Family: Polygonaceae; Buckwheat Family
Vegetative Characteristics:
Seedling: hypocotyl erect or prostrate; cotyledons lanceolate, smooth, with gland-tipped trichomes covering margins
Stems: erect, 0.3-1.2 m tall, branching, smooth with swollen nodes, reddish purple
Leaves: alternate, 5.0-15.0 cm long, 1.0-3.0 cm wide, simple, lanceolate, pointed at tip, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, often with purple marks in center of upper and lower surfaces; ocrea smooth, membranous, surrounding stem at nodes
Reproductive Characteristics:
Inflorescences: many flowers in a dense spike at tip of stems and branches stalk pubescent, trichomes stalked and glanded; perianth 3.0-5.0 mm long and rose, pink, or occasionally white; sepals 5-parted, petals absent, styles 2 or 3.
Fruits: achene, 2.5-3.5 mm long, 2.2-3.5 mm wide, oval or round, 2-sided, somewhat flattened with pointed tip, black, shiny, smooth, with concave indentation on the face; calyx adhering to achene.
Special Identifying Features:
⇒ Erect summer annual; nodes swollen, smooth; ocrea surrounding stem; flower stalk pubescent, trichomes stalked and glanded; similar to ladysthumb but WITHOUT hairs on top of ocrea.
- Ocrea
- Leaf
- Ocrea
- Stem
- Seeds
- Seedling
- Flower
- Purple Mark on Leaf
