Plants › knotweed family
pale smartweed
Persicaria lapathifolia
28 photos
Study shows up to four per card, from different observers, so you learn the species rather than one picture. Heart the good ones and swap any you do not like.
Photos you add are credited to you, and you keep the copyright.
Easily confused with
spotted lady's thumbPersicaria maculosa
pinkweedPersicaria pensylvanica
Far Eastern smartweedPersicaria extremiorientalis
water smartweedPersicaria amphibia
swamp smartweedPersicaria hydropiperoides
low smartweedPersicaria longiseta
waterpepperPersicaria hydropiper
slender knotweedPersicaria decipiens
Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.
Where it is recorded
| United States | 136,808 |
|---|---|
| Alaska | 126,549 |
| Russia | 4,696 |
| Canada | 3,369 |
| Ontario | 2,112 |
| California | 921 |
| Michigan | 811 |
| Minnesota | 687 |
| Texas | 679 |
| New York | 609 |
Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.
Traits
Group and habits
- Toxic to humansListed as toxic or not suitable as food for humans by a harvested source.Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species
- Medicinal useListed as having medicinal use by a harvested source. This is not medical advice.Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species
Edibility, toxicity and medicinal traits are records from datasets, not advice. Never eat, handle or use a wild species on the strength of an app.
Classification
| Kingdom | Plants · Plantae |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Vascular Plants · Tracheophyta |
| Class | Dicots · Magnoliopsida |
| Order | pinks, cactuses, and allies · Caryophyllales |
| Family | knotweed family · Polygonaceae |
| Genus | knotweeds, smartweeds, and waterpeppers · Persicaria |
Study it in a deck
- Medicinal Plants of Baltimore County
- Plants of Richmond city, Virginia, United States
- Plants of Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia
- Trees of Maryland
Or build your own from the species near you.
Sources
- Names, taxonomy and observation counts: www.inaturalist.org
- Photos and recordings: the creator and source are on each one.
- Traits: Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species (CC BY 4.0)
- How much to rely on each source
Remember the name next time.
Practise pale smartweed with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.