PINK-HEADED PERSICARIA

Persicaria capitata

(Formerly: Polygonum capitatum)
Dock & Knotweed Family [Polygonaceae]

month8may month8jun month8june month8jul month8july month8aug month8sep month8sept

status
statusZneophyte		 flower
flower8pink		 flower
flower8white		 morph
morph8actino		 petals
petalsZ5		 type
typeZclustered		 type
typeZglobed		 type
typeZtubular		 stem
stem8round		 sex
sexZbisexual

26th May 2019, doorstep of shop, Stansted. Photo: © Leila Riddel
A vulnerable garden escapee - it is not fully hardy, and although we may have global warming, with increasing temperatures, that does not mean that the minimum temperatures will not be as cold as ever. It is found frequently all over the British Isles.


26th May 2019, doorstep of shop, Stansted. Photo: © Leila Riddel
With muddy-green coloured leaves with large darker-green chevrons it can look similar to some species of Cyclamen to some, but the flowers are totally different, here they are in tiny globular clusters.


26th May 2019, doorstep of shop, Stansted. Photo: © Leila Riddel
The individual flowers in the globular cluster are pink but can also be white. The stems bearing leaves are thick and with characteristic Knotweed nodes every so often. It is a spreading sprawling plant, which can take root at any node, so is able to cover large areas without running out of nutrients. The hairs are glandular.

With its leaves possessing chevrons it exhibits some similarities to larger leaved Clovers but the leaves are not in three's.

Slight resemblance to : some Sowbreads (aka Cyclamen) such as Eastern Sowbread but the flowers hang upside down on cyclamen, are not in globular clusters, are much larger with 5 large petals reflexed upwards and arranged like a ships' propeller.

  Persicaria capitata  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Polygonaceae  

Distribution
family8Dock & Knotweed family8Polygonaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Persicaria
Persicaria
(Knotweeds)

PINK-HEADED PERSICARIA

Persicaria capitata

(Formerly: Polygonum capitatum)
Dock & Knotweed Family [Polygonaceae]