Smartweed

Smartweed (Polygonum pensylvanicum F. Polygonaceae)

Smartweed is a prevalent wildflower. It is also called Japanese knotweed.

Habitat: It grows best in damp areas along roads and around waste areas.

Appearance: It is 30-120 cm high. It is most recognizable by its spin-like dense elongated clusters of small pink grain-like flowers. The flowers are arranged along a thin, vibrant green, sticky, and hairy stems. The flowers are 3mm. Each has 4-6 sepals.They are arranged in clusters approximately 1.5-6.5 cm long and varying width. They have fruit lens-shaped small, concave, and two-sided.

Facts:

They are part of the buckwheat family. They are a popular and reliable food source. It is a competitor  of commercial crops such as cereals, berries, and vegetables. Smartweeds are herbs. They reproduce rhizomes. They bloom from July to September.

Other Names:

Tan weed, Devils Shoestring, Tansy Mustard.

http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Wildflowers_Kimonis_Kramer/PAGES/PENNSYLVANIASMARTWEED_PAGE_FINAL.html http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/singlerecord.asp?id=240

=Revised Information = Brady Young- no plagiarism Lucas Ambler- a couple spelling and grammar errors

Lucas Burkett- Needs to be reorganized

The smartweed is a prevalent wildflower that is also known as the Japanese knotweed. It is most recognizable by its' spine-like dense enlongated clusters of small pink grain-like flower that are arranged along a thin, vibrant green, sticky, and hairy stem. This herb is a part of the buckwheat family and is a popular and reliable food source.