''Fallopia baldschuanica'' (
syn. ''Polygonum baldschuanicum'') is an Asian species of flowering plant in the
knotweed family known by several common names, including Russian-vine,
Bukhara fleeceflower, Chinese fleecevine, mile-a-minute and silver lace vine. It is native to Asia (China, Russia, Kazakhstan, etc.),
[Flora of China, ''Fallopia aubertii'' (L. Henry) Holub, 1971. 木藤首乌 mu teng shou wu ]
/ref> and is growing wild in parts of Europe and North and Central America as an introduced species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...
.[
Some authors split the species in two, regarding the Chinese populations as '']Fallopia aubertii
''Fallopia aubertii'' ( syn. ''Polygonum aubertii'') is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae
The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family ...
'' and the Russian and central Asian species as ''F. baldschuanica.''[
''Fallopia baldschuanica'' is grown as an ]ornamental plant
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...
for its flower-laced vines. The white flowers are decorative and provide nectar
Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...
and pollen for the honey bee
A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current co ...
.[ As it is fast-growing, it is used as cover for unsightly fences and other garden structures. It can become invasive, however.
]
Description
''Fallopia baldschuanica'' is a vining plant with woody, climbing stems at least in length. The pointed oval or nearly triangular leaves are up to long and borne on petioles. The inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
is an open array of narrow, branching, drooping or spreading clusters of white flowers, each cluster reaching a maximum of long. Flowers hang on short pedicels
In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''.
Description
Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...
. Each five-lobed flower is just under a centimeter long and white to greenish or pale pink, sometimes turning bright pink as the fruit develops. The fruit is a shiny black achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
about wide.[Flora of North America, ''Fallopia baldschuanica'' (Regel) Holub, 1971. Bukhara fleeceflower, mile-a-minute vine ]
/ref>
In culture
It features in ''Nemesis'', by Agatha Christie. The greenhouse at the Old Manor House of the three sisters collapsed. The sisters planted this creeper to cover what they could not restore. Miss Marple names the plant upon seeing it about to bloom, under its former name of ''Polygonum baldschuanicum''. It is also the title of Chapter 9 and represents a theme in the novel.
See also
*Japanese knotweed
''Reynoutria japonica'', synonyms ''Fallopia japonica'' and ''Polygonum cuspidatum'', is a species of herbaceous perennial plant in the knotweed and buckwheat family Polygonaceae. Common names include Japanese knotweed and Asian knotweed. It is ...
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment, University of CaliforniaKemper Center for Home Gardening, Missouri Botanical Garden
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1340076
baldschuanica
Flora of Asia
Plants described in 1883