Polygonum pensylvanicum
Encyclopedia
Polygonum pensylvanicum is a species of flowering plant
in the buckwheat
family, Polygonaceae
, that is native to eastern North America
. Common names include Pinkweed, Pink Knotweed, Smartweed, and Pennsylvania Smartweed.
-shaped and are connected at the node by a membranous sheath, or ocrea. The ocrea is not fringed. The plant flowers July to November. The flowers are rose-pink (or white) and are found in crowded, elongate clusters. Flower stalks often have minute glandular hairs near top, but this is highly variable. The seeds are small, and a shiny brown and encased in achene
s. The achenes are elliptical
to circular
and are a glossy black.
s. It can tolerate many different conditions, but prefers moist soils. It can be found throughout eastern and central North America
.
. Note that the fresh juice is acrid and may cause irritation.
s, the many large seeds to songbird
s and wildfowl
and the leaves to several kinds of moth
s and butterflies
.
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
in the buckwheat
Buckwheat
Buckwheat refers to a variety of plants in the dicot family Polygonaceae: the Eurasian genus Fagopyrum, the North American genus Eriogonum, and the Northern Hemisphere genus Fallopia. Either of the latter two may be referred to as "wild buckwheat"...
family, Polygonaceae
Polygonaceae
Polygonaceae is a family of flowering plants known informally as the "knotweed family" or "smartweed family"— "buckwheat family" in the United States. The name is based on the genus Polygonum and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789 in his book, Genera Plantarum. The name refers...
, that is native to eastern North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Common names include Pinkweed, Pink Knotweed, Smartweed, and Pennsylvania Smartweed.
Description
Pennsylvania Smartweed is an erect or sprawling annual, 1 to 5 feet tall. The leaves are lanceLance
A Lance is a pole weapon or spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior. The lance is longer, stout and heavier than an infantry spear, and unsuited for throwing, or for rapid thrusting. Lances did not have tips designed to intentionally break off or bend, unlike many throwing weapons of the...
-shaped and are connected at the node by a membranous sheath, or ocrea. The ocrea is not fringed. The plant flowers July to November. The flowers are rose-pink (or white) and are found in crowded, elongate clusters. Flower stalks often have minute glandular hairs near top, but this is highly variable. The seeds are small, and a shiny brown and encased in achene
Achene
An achene is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate and indehiscent...
s. The achenes are elliptical
Ellipse
In geometry, an ellipse is a plane curve that results from the intersection of a cone by a plane in a way that produces a closed curve. Circles are special cases of ellipses, obtained when the cutting plane is orthogonal to the cone's axis...
to circular
Circle
A circle is a simple shape of Euclidean geometry consisting of those points in a plane that are a given distance from a given point, the centre. The distance between any of the points and the centre is called the radius....
and are a glossy black.
Habitat and range
Pennsylvania Smartweed grows in waste ground and cropCrop
Crop may refer to:* Crop, a plant grown and harvested for agricultural use* Crop , part of the alimentary tract of some animals* Crop , a modified whip used in horseback riding or disciplining humans...
s. It can tolerate many different conditions, but prefers moist soils. It can be found throughout eastern and central North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Cultivation and uses
American Indians used tea made from the whole plant for diarrhea and poulticed leaves for piles. Bitter leaf tea has been used to stop bleeding from mouth. The tops were used in a tea for epilepsyEpilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
. Note that the fresh juice is acrid and may cause irritation.
Ecology
The nectar is useful to insectInsect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, the many large seeds to songbird
Songbird
A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds . Another name that is sometimes seen as scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin oscen, "a songbird"...
s and wildfowl
Anatidae
Anatidae is the biological family of birds that includes ducks, geese and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica and on most of the world's islands and island groups...
and the leaves to several kinds of moth
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
s and butterflies
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
.
Synonyms
- Persicaria bicornis (Raf.) Nieuwl.
- Persicaria longistyla (Small) Small
- Persicaria mississippiensis (Stanford) Small
- Persicaria pensylvanica (L.) G.Maza
- Persicaria pensylvanica var. dura (Stanford) C.F.Reed
- Polygonum bicorne Raf.
- Polygonum longistylum Small
- Polygonum longistylum var. omissum (Greene) Stanford
- Polygonum mexicanum auct. non Small
- Polygonum mississippiense Stanford
- Polygonum mississippiense var. interius Stanford
- Polygonum pensylvanicum var. durum Stanford
- Polygonum pensylvanicum var. eglandulosum J.C.Myers
- Polygonum pensylvanicum var. genuinum Fern.
- Polygonum pensylvanicum var. laevigatum Fern.
- Polygonum pensylvanicum var. rosiflorum J.B.S. Norton