Persicaria minor Opiz

Small water-pepper (en), Petite Renouée (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Caryophyllales > Polygonaceae > Persicaria

Characteristics

Plants annual, 0.5-3(-4) dm; roots also sometimes at from proximal nodes; rhizomes and stolons absent. Stems decumbent or ascending, branched proximally, scarcely ribbed, glabrous or scabrous distally. Leaves: ocrea brownish, cylindric, 3-10 mm, chartaceous, base not inflated, margins truncate, ciliate with bristles (0.3-)1-3(-5) mm, surface glabrous or strigose, not glandular-punctate; petiole 0.1-0.2 cm, glabrous or strigose, leaves sometimes sessile; blade without dark triangular or lunate blotch adaxially, linear to linear-lanceolate, (1-)2-7.5(-10) × (0.2-)0.4-1(-2.3) cm, base tapered to cuneate, margins antrorsely scabrous, apex acute to acuminate, faces glabrous or sparingly strigose, especially along midveins, not glandular-punctate. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, ascending to erect, usually interrupted proximally, uninterrupted distally, 10-50 × 2-4 mm; peduncle (0-)2-25 mm, sometimes absent on axillary inflorescences and flowers thus enclosed in ocreae, glabrous; ocreolae not overlapping proximally, usually overlapping distally, margins ciliate with bristles (0.1-)0.6-2(-2.7) mm. Pedicels ascending, 0.5-1 mm. Flowers 1-3(-4) per ocreate fascicle, homostylous; perianth roseate to red, rarely white, glabrous, not glandular-punctate, scarcely accrescent; tepals 5, connate ca. 1/ 3 their length, obovate to elliptic, 2.5-3 mm, veins not prominent, not anchor-shaped, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded; stamens 5(-6), included; anthers yellow to pink, elliptic; styles 2(-3), connate at bases. Achenes included, brownish black to black, biconvex or, rarely, 3-gonous, (1.5-)1.8-2.3(-2.7) × (1.1-)1.3-1.5(-1.8) mm, shiny, smooth.
More
An annual herb. It can also keep growing from year to year. It lies along the ground but can also reach to 1 m high. The stems are slender. They are 1-4 mm thick. The leaf stalks are short. The leaves are sword shaped or almost linear. They are 5-12 cm long. The leaves are hairy underneath. The flowering arrangement is at the top. There are 1 or more lax false spikes. These are 1-6 cm long. There are 3-6 flowers and the bracts are funnel shaped. The fruit are lens shaped with faces which curve outwards. They are 1.5-2 mm long. They are black or brown and shiny.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination
Spread barochory
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.25 - 0.3
Root system rhizome
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A tropical plant. It grows at low altitudes in wet places in Papua New Guinea. It grows in better drained places at higher altitudes. It can grow from sea level to 2500 m altitude. In Argentina it grows below 500 m below sea level.
More
Wet marshy places and besides lakes and ponds. Forest paths and roadways, villages, canals, banks of brooks, among hillocks, meadowland mochezhina, sandy and pebbly lacustrine or fluvial flats.
Light 4-9
Soil humidity 4-9
Soil texture 2-6
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 4-10

Usage

The leaves are eaten in curries.
Uses eating food medicinal poison social use
Edible leaves seeds
Therapeutic use Dyspepsia (leaf), Dyspepsia (unspecified), Piscicide (unspecified), Stomach (unspecified), Parturition (unspecified), Poison (unspecified), Puerperium (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Persicaria minor habit picture by Gradwohl Markus (cc-by-sa)
Persicaria minor habit picture by Yoan MARTIN (cc-by-sa)
Persicaria minor habit picture by Yoan MARTIN (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Persicaria minor leaf picture by TanjasGrüneWelt (cc-by-sa)
Persicaria minor leaf picture by Yoan MARTIN (cc-by-sa)
Persicaria minor leaf picture by Marek Durajczyk (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Persicaria minor flower picture by Gradwohl Markus (cc-by-sa)
Persicaria minor flower picture by Yoan MARTIN (cc-by-sa)
Persicaria minor flower picture by Michel L. (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Persicaria minor world distribution map, present in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Canada, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Georgia, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Italy, Kazakhstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Sri Lanka, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Madagascar, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Mongolia, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Thailand, Tajikistan, Ukraine, United States of America, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, and South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:695060-1
WFO ID wfo-0000488490
COL ID 775FB
BDTFX ID 48341
INPN ID 112746
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Polygonum minus Peutalis minus Persicaria minor