Persicaria extremiorientalis (Vorosch.) Tzvelev.
Detail
- Family
- Polygonaceae
- Botanical Name
- Persicaria extremiorientalis (Vorosch.) Tzvelev.
- Common Name
- East Asian Smartweed
- Synonym(s)
- Flora of Virginia Name/Status
- in Taxa Not Treated: Waifs
- Comments
- Reported as established in North America in J. Torr. Bot. Soc. 137(4):333-338 (2010) and first discovered in Virginia by Charlie Davis based on his 2009 collection from Mather Gorge, Fairfax County; more recent specimens from numerous additional counties indicate a very rapidly spreading introduction. Additional occurrences will certainly be forthcoming. It is one of our largest smartweeds, easily recognized by its height (often 2 m tall) and nodding spikes of pink to purplish flowers. While our material usually has at least sparsely strigose stems and stipitate-glandular peduncles, it can be quite variable and some specimens can be nearly glabrous. Although quite aggressive in freshly disturbed or cultivated soils, this species cannot complete with weedy perennials and generally disappears after the initial stages of succession on disturbed sites.
- Habitat
- Disturbed alluvium, weedy roadsides, waste places, and mulch beds. Rapidly spreading and becoming frequent in the northern and central parts of the state.
- Native Status
- Introduced
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