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Persicaria pensylvanica
Also called Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pennsylvania Knotweed, Pink Knotweed
Pinkweed is a variable annual herb of moist, disturbed ground, common across North America and a weed in many other places. It is grown mostly as a wildflower or wildlife plant, and it thrives in wet soil and full sun.
Persicaria pensylvanica (syn. Polygonum pensylvanicum) is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. It is native to parts of North America, where it is widespread in Canada and the United States. It has also been noted as an introduced species in parts of Europe and South America. Common names include Pennsylvania smartweed, pinkweed, and common smartweed.
This plant is an important part of the habitat for waterfowl and other birds, which use it for food and cover. At least 50 species of birds have been observed feeding on the seeds, including ducks, geese, rails, bobwhites, mourning dove, and ring-necked pheasant. The seeds and other parts are eaten by mammals such as the white-footed mouse, muskrat, raccoon, and fox squirrel.
Amphibious Bistort · Pink Headed Knotweed · Chinese Knotweed · Water pepper · Curlytop knotweed · Redshank · Persicaria microcephala · Small water-pepper · Vietnamese Coriander · Asiatic Tearthumb · Dotted Smartweed · Persicaria tinctoria
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Persicaria pensylvanica 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.
