Persicaria lapathifolia (Pale Persicaria) - photos and description
15 cm ruler
Ocreae lacking bristles
General: Annual with an erect to spreading growth habit. Stems glabrous. Ocreae lacking bristles (final question in the taxonomic key to genus Polygonum to identify P. lapathifolium in Flora of Alberta).
Flowers: Flowers greenish-white in terminal and axillary spikes. Spike measured at 3.5 cm long, flowers measured at 3 mm long.
Leaves: Leaves are alternate, cauline, lanceolate to ovate, margins ciliate, leaf bottoms hairy with long appressed hairs, tops glabrous. Leaf measured at 14. 5 cm long and 28 mm wide. Purple spots mid leaf on leaves of some plants, not all.
Height: Height listed in Flora of Alberta to 80 cm, we measured plants to 86 cm tall.
Habitat: Fields, slough margins and low areas.
Abundance: Common.
Origin: Native.
Synonym: Listed in some of the field guides we use as Polygonum lapathifolium.
When and where photographed: Took the above photos August 18th, low spot in cultivated field, parklands, about 300 km east of our home in Regina, SK.