Persicaria virginiana

Persicaria virginiana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Core eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Persicaria
Species: P. virginiana
Binomial name
Persicaria virginiana
(L.) Gaertn.
Synonyms[1]
  • Polygonum virginianum L. 1753
  • Antenoron virginianum (L.) Roberty & Vautier
  • Tovara virginiana (L.) Raf.

Persicaria virginiana, also called jumpseed,[2] Virginia knotweed or woodland knotweed[3] is a North American species of smartweeds 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

External links

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