Persicaria virginiana
| Persicaria virginiana | |
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| Species: | P. virginiana
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| Binomial name | |
| Persicaria virginiana | |
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| Range within North America | |
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Persicaria virginiana, also called jumpseed,[2] Virginia knotweed or woodland knotweed[3] is a North American species of smartweed within the buckwheat family. It is unusual as a shade-tolerant member of a mostly sun-loving genus. Jumpseed is a perennial, named for its seeds which can "jump" several feet when a ripe seedpod is disturbed.
Persicaria virginiana blooms in midsummer to late summer/early fall. It has a stalk of small white flowers.[4]
Description
Like other Persicaria, jumpseed has alternate leaves, with fine-hairy stipular sheaths (ocrea) with bristle-fringed edges which often turn brownish. Flowers, widely spaced along slender stalks, are white to greenish-white, rarely pink-tinged, and fruiting flowers have 2 downward-pointing hook-tipped styles.[3] Persicaria virginiana is easily distinguished from most other Persicaria species by its much larger, more oval-shaped leaves, although a few species also have large leaves. It sometimes has a chevron-shaped marking on the leaves; often a single plant will have this marking on some leaves but not others.
Cultivars and naturalized populations from cultivation show much greater variation than wild-type plants, sometimes having variagation or have more involved red patterning, and sometimes having red or pink flowers.
Distribution and habitat
Persicaria virginiana has a wide native range throughout most of Eastern North America, from Ontario and Quebec, south to Florida, and west as far as Texas, Nebraska, and Minnesota.[5][6]
It naturally occurs in full to partial shade, on riverbanks, woods, cliffs, and rocks.[7]
Cultivation
Many variegated cultivars exist. The plant prefers medium to moist soil and full sun to part shade.[8]
References
- ^ Tropicos, Persicaria virginiana (L.) Gaertn.
- ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Polygonum virginianum". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
- ^ a b David M. Brandenburg, Field Guide to Wildflowers of North America, National Wildlife Federation, Sterling Publishing, New York, 2010. (pp. 432)
- ^ Persicaria virginiana (Linnaeus) Gaertner, Flora of North America
- ^ Polygonum virginianum L., Jumpseed, United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile
- ^ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
- ^ Persicaria virginiana - University of Wisconsin @ Stevens Point, Freckmann Herbarium
- ^ Missouri Botanical Garden, gardening help
