Polygonum hydropiper

  • Authority

    Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

  • Family

    Polygonaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Polygonum hydropiper

  • Description

    Species Description - Erect or spreading peppery-tasting annual to 6 dm, simple or branched, essentially glabrous, often reddish; lvs narrowly lanceolate to lance-ovate, sometimes strigulose on the veins; ocreae glabrous or strigose, short-ciliate, those from the middle of the stem upward distended by concealed cleistogamous fls; racemes slender but usually continuous, commonly arched or nodding at the summit; ocreolae glabrous, short-ciliate, obliquely truncate, commonly overlapping; fls greenish; tep 4(5), glandular-punctate, usually white-margined; achenes lenticular or more often obtusely trigonous, dark brown to black, dull, 2.2–3.3 mm; 2n=20, 22. Native of Europe, commonly found in wet soil from Que. to B.C., s. to Ala. and Calif. (Persicaria h.)

  • Common Names

    water-pepper