Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

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Persicaria praetermissa

Common name

Spotted Knotweed

Family

Polygonaceae

Where found

Swamp margins and other damp places. Widespread, mainly coast and ranges, and along the Murray River. Doubtfully naturalised in the ACT.

Notes

Herb, usually perennial, often prostrate to sprawling or scrambling. Stems to 1.5 m long, slender, bristly. Leaves alternating along the stems, 2.5–20 cm long, 6–18 mm wide, hairy on the veins and margins, occasionally also scattered over the surfaces, bases with pointed lobes, stipular sheath (ocrea) with scattered rather spreading hairs, hairless on the upper margin. Flowers with 4-5 pink or white 'petals', each 2.5–4 mm long, free from each other to near the base. Flowers in 1–6 small, rather isolated clusters, borne on 2 or 3 relatively long branches at 5–15 mm intervals. Only 1 mature flower per cluster at any one time. Flowers Nov.–May.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Persicaria~praetermissa  (accessed 30 January, 2021)