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Polygonum argyrocoleon

Steud. ex Kunze (1847)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-CoreEudicot Order: Caryophyllales Family: Polygonaceae Genus: Polygonum

knotweed, smartweed

Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Pale green annual herbs 2–5 dm tall.

Stems: Primary stem erect with several ascending branches, these often rather lax.

Roots: Taproots sometimes becoming ligneous and appearing perennial.

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades linear, 1–3 cm long, 0.1–0.4 cm wide. Upper surfaces greatly reduced to minute bracts, glabrous. Margins entire. Narrowed to a short petiole, blade jointed to petiole. Stipules present as an ocreae, hyaline, laciniate, 5–10 mm long.

Flowers: Flowers 1 to several in the axils of the reduced upper leaves and appearing subracemose. Flowers bisexual (perfect), actinomorphic. Tepals (4)5(6), usually petaloid, persistent, green, becoming rose toward apex, ca. 1.5 mm long, enlarging up to ca. 2 mm long in fruit. Stamens 3–9, but usually 5, exserted or included; anthers dithecal, opening by longitudinal slits.

Fruit: Nuts reddish brown; trigonous; protruding up to ca. ½ its length from or completely enclosed by the persistent tepals; often with 1 face slightly wider than others; ca. 2 mm long; the surface very smooth and glossy.

Ploidy: 2n = 40

Habitat: Pastures.

Elevation Range: ca. 1,000 m.

Historical Distribution

Uses and Culture

USES

Natural History

Statewide Status

Extirpated

Island Status

Maui Potentially naturalizing

Dispersal Agents


Pollinators

Notes

  • 1000m
  • Description digitized by Joanne
  • Description digitized from the Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii
  • no longer pesist in Hawaii
  • pasture in Uluplakua, east Maui in 1937

Bibliography

Name Published In: Linnaea 20: 17 (1847)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:1062 (EM [single spm., ‘Ulupalakua, 1937])

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Scientific Name Authorship Locality Habitat Basis of Record Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Polygonum argyrocoleon Steud. ex Kunze Makawao, Ulupalakua, upper garden PRESERVED_SPECIMEN Hosaka, E. Y. 1802 Maui US 4/13/1937
2 Polygonum argyrocoleon Steud. ex Kunze Makawao, Ulupalakua, upper garden Rare, in pasture. PRESERVED_SPECIMEN Hosaka, E.Y. 1802 Maui BISH 4/13/1937
3 Polygonum argyrocoleon Steud. ex Kunze makawao, ulupalakua, upper garden Rare, in pasture. PRESERVED_SPECIMEN hosaka, e.y. collector number: 1802 Maui BISH 4/13/1937
4 Polygonum argyrocoleon Steud. ex Kunze makawao, ulupalakua, upper garden PRESERVED_SPECIMEN e. y. hosaka 1802 Maui US 4/13/1937
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