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Amphibious Bistort

Persicaria amphibia

Also called Water Smartweed, Water knotweed, Longroot smartweed, Scarlet Smartweed

Amphibious Bistort
Photo: Svdmolen, CC BY 2.5

Amphibious bistort is a creeping or floating perennial herb of wet places, found in ponds, streams, marshes and damp meadows across the Northern Hemisphere. It grows best with its roots in moist soil or shallow water and is often grown as a pond or bog plant.

Family
Polygonaceae (Buckwheat family)
Grows as
Aquatic
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Keep the roots constantly wet or submerged in shallow water.
Soil
Heavy, fertile mud or wet garden loam; a pond margin or bog basket works well.
Temperature
5–30 °C; tolerates hard frost as a dormant rhizome.
How easy
Easy
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
Subarctic & Temp. Northern Hemisphere, Ethiopia to Kenya, S. Africa
Climate
temperate

About

Persicaria amphibia (syn. Polygonum amphibium) is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by several common names, including longroot smartweed, water knotweed, water smartweed, and amphibious bistort. It is native to much of North America, Asia, Europe, and parts of Africa, and it grows elsewhere as an introduced species and sometimes a noxious weed.

Where it grows

Persicaria amphibia is native to a large area across the northern hemisphere, including Europe, Asia, North America, and parts of Africa. It has been introduced elsewhere, such as South America and other parts of Africa.

Uses

Various parts of this plant were used by several Native American groups as medicinal remedies and sometimes as food.

Other Persicaria plants

Pink Headed Knotweed · Chinese Knotweed · Water pepper · Curlytop knotweed · Redshank · Persicaria microcephala · Small water-pepper · Vietnamese Coriander · Pinkweed · Asiatic Tearthumb · Dotted Smartweed · Persicaria tinctoria

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Persicaria amphibia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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