Bark
Nodes prominent, stem reddish, glabrous, spineless.
Persicaria chinensis
Syn. Polygonum chinense
IUCN Red List
Not Evaluated
(NE)
Local name
- Chinese knotweed (English)
- Paral (Marathi)
- Malle mutyamu (Telugu)
Herb type
Evergreen
Deciduous
Family: Polygonaceae
1m
Indicated uses
Medicinal
Edible
Ornamental
Avenue
Other
Flowering & fruiting
Flowering
Fruiting
Key characters
Leaves
Alternately arranged ovate-oblong leaves are 5-10 cm long, 3 cm wide, midrib violet-red colored, upper surface of leaf with inverted “V” shaped spot.
Flower
Flowers are small, white or light reddish in color, arranged in heads (capitate); inflorescence axillary. Calyx 5, enlarging when fruiting, transparent to white.
Fruit / Seeds
The fruit is a trigonous nut (achene) enclosed by fleshy tepals. Also, the tepals turn dark purple or bluish in fruit. Seeds small, black, fruits edible, sour tasting.
Did you know?
The generic name ‘Persicaria’ is derived from the Latin persica (peach), referring to the peach-like leaves of many species in the genus, while the specific epithet chinensis means “from China,” indicating the region from which the species was originally described. Thus, Persicaria chinensis literally means “the Chinese peach-leaved knotweed.”
Distribution
Tropical & Subtropical Asia.