Swamp Smartweed
Persicaria hydropiperoides (Michaux) Small
Swamp Smartweed: https://marylandbiodiversity.com/species/3548
Synonyms
Persicaria opelousana  Polygonum hydropiperoides  Polygonum opelousanum 
Tags

Map Snapshot

67 Records

Use of media featured on Maryland Biodiversity Project is only permitted with express permission of the photographer.

Source: Wikipedia

Persicaria hydropiperoides
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Persicaria
Species:
P. hydropiperoides
Binomial name
Persicaria hydropiperoides
Synonyms[1][2]
  • Polygonum barbatum Walter
  • Polygonum hydropiperoides Michx.
  • Polygonum opelousanum Riddell ex Small

Persicaria hydropiperoides, commonly called swamp smartweed, mild waterpepper, false waterpepper,[3][4][5][6] or sometimes simply waterpepper,[7] is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family. It has a widespread distribution across much of North America and South America.[8][9][10][11][12] Its preferred habitat is in moist, saturated to inundated soils growing in full sun to partial shade; such as swamp forests, marshes, streams, shorelines, and ditches.[3][4][7] It is sometimes semi-aquatic.[citation needed]

Swamp smartweed is quite variable and is sometimes divided into several varieties, some of which may be better treated as species in their own right.[2]

In general, swamp smartweed is a rhizomatous perennial herb growing upright or erect and approaching a maximum height of one meter (40 inches). Roots may emerge from nodes on the lower stem. The bristly lance-shaped leaves are around 10 centimeters (4 inches) long. The leaves have sheathing stipules known as ochreae. The spike-like inflorescence produces many pinkish flowers each about 3 millimeters wide.[2]

Swamp smartweed is reported to be edible, as are all species in the genus Persicaria.[13] Although its close relatives Persicaria hydropiper and Persicaria punctata are known to possess a hot or pungent quality when consumed, swamp smartweed is said to lack the same pungency by at least one author.[13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ The Plant List, Persicaria hydropiperoides (Michx.) Small
  2. ^ a b c Flora of North America, (Michaux) Small, 1903. Swamp smartweed, renouée faux-poivre-d'eau
  3. ^ a b "Persicaria hydropiperoides - Species Page - APA: Alabama Plant Atlas". floraofalabama.org. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  4. ^ a b "Persicaria hydropiperoides (Mild Waterpepper): Minnesota Wildflowers". www.minnesotawildflowers.info. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  5. ^ "Swamp Smartweed (Persicaria hydropiperoides)". The National Gardening Association Plants Database. 2024-08-29. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  6. ^ "Mild Waterpepper (Persicaria hydropiperoides)". www.illinoiswildflowers.info. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  7. ^ a b "Persicaria hydropiperoides (Waterpepper) - FSUS". fsus.ncbg.unc.edu. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  8. ^ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  9. ^ Jørgensen, P. M., M. H. Nee & S. G. Beck. (eds.) 2014. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia, Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127(1–2): i–viii, 1–1744
  10. ^ Marticorena, C. & M. Quezada. 1985. Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Chile. Gayana, Botánica 42: 1–157.
  11. ^ Porter, D. M. 1983. Vascular plants of the Galapagos: Origins and dispersal. 33–54. In M. B. R. I. Bowman & A. E. Leviton Patterns of Evolution in Galapagos Organisms. Pacific Division, AAAS, San Francisco
  12. ^ Cowan, C. P. 1983. Flora de Tabasco. Listados Florísticos de México 1: 1–123.
  13. ^ a b Thayer, Samuel (2023). Sam Thayer's field guide to edible wild plants of eastern & central North America. Weyerhaeuser, WI: Forager's Harvest. pp. 583–585. ISBN 978-0-9766266-4-0. OCLC 1370911493.
[edit]