Polygonum polygaloides ssp. kelloggii (Small Knotweed) - photos and description
Patch of many plants in above photo.
Ocreae present where stems divide, leaves are linear.
Leaves are linear.
Bracts at stem tips have green margins.
Looking straight down on plant.
General: Low annual with a branching growth habit. Ocreae present where stems divide.
I believe this plant is Polygonum polygaloides ssp.
kelloggii.
The technician at the U of S Fraser Herbarium helped me to identify
specimens I had collected of this plant. We used various keys, and,
compared my specimens to all Polygonum species in the herbarium
collection. No species in the herbarium matched my specimens, and the
herbarium had no specimens of Polygonum polygaloides ssp.
kelloggii. The technician is going to try to enlist the help of a
Polygonum expert at another herbarium to identify the collected
specimens, until then I'll list the plant as Polygonum polygaloides ssp.
kelloggii.
Flowers: Flowers present in leaf axils, crowded in upper leaf axils, white to pinkish-white, the white flowers with a green stripe down the middle of the petals. We measured a flower at 2 mm diameter. Bracts surrounding upper flowers are elliptical, are green in colour, without white margins. (The very similar plant Polygonum polygaloides ssp. confertiflorum has noticeably white-margined bracts).
Leaves: Linear, basal leaves lacking, stem leaves alternate. Top and bottom of leaves with a scurfy surface. The single leaf highlighted in the photo above was 16 mm long by 1 mm wide.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 15 cm, I measured plants to 9 cm tall, most plants were 5 cm tall.
Habitat: Moist areas on the southwestern prairies.
Abundance: Rare to very rare. Is listed in Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Saskatchewan as N VER? (native, reported present but lacks verification).
Origin: Native.
Synonym: Is listed in some of the field guides we use as Polygonum kelloggii.
When and where photographed: Photos were taken on June 24th, grassy meadow in bottom of ravine, prairie, Cypress Hills, about 400 km southwest of our home in Regina, SK.