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Polygonum aviculare
Also called Knotgrass, Yard Knotweed, Knotweed, Doorweed, English Knotgrass, Knotgrass Agg., Wireweed
Prostrate knotweed is a low, spreading annual weed of fields, roadsides and waste ground, native to Eurasia and now found worldwide. It is grown only as a wild plant and rarely cultivated, so the key to dealing with it is controlling its spread through regular removal before it seeds.
Polygonum aviculare or common knotgrass is a plant related to buckwheat and dock. It is also called prostrate knotweed, birdweed, pigweed and lowgrass. It is an annual found in fields and wasteland, with white flowers from June to October. It is widespread across many countries in temperate regions, apparently native to Eurasia, naturalized in temperate parts of the Southern Hemisphere.
Polygonum aviculare contains the flavonols avicularin, myricitrin and juglanin. The flavonoids astragalin and betmidin, and the lignan aviculin have also been found. The diterpene alkaloid panicudine is another known component.
Polygonum aviculare is native to Eurasia, but has become a widespread invasive worldwide.
It formed a traditional ingredient in porridge consumed by Germanic peoples of western Europe, and has been found in numerous autopsies of peat bodies, including the Tollund Man.
European knotweed · Oval-leaf knotweed · Indian Knotgrass · Douglas' knotweed · Erect knotweed · Knotweed
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Polygonum aviculare 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.
