Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Polygonum aviculare
Common name
Wireweed, Hogweed
Family
Polygonaceae
Where found
Grassy areas, disturbed sites and roadsides. Mainly Sydney area and Canberra. Widespread elsewhere but not common.
Notes
Introduced annual or biennial herb, commonly mat-forming, sometimes erect when among taller plants, with stems to 1.2 m long. Stems hairless. Leaves alternating along the stems, 0.8-5 cm long, 2-18 mm wide, with a silvery stipular sheath at the base, soon disintegrating, surfaces hairless, margins flat or wavy, tips pointed. Leaves decrease in size towards the ends of the stems. Flowers 1.8-3.5 mm long, with 5 ‘petals‘ joined at the base, 'petals' white or pink, sometimes red outside or greenish with pink or white margins, in clusters of 1-5. Flowers mostly Dec.–May.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Polygonum~aviculare (accessed 22 January, 2021)
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