''Koenigia phytolaccifolia'' (

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

''Aconogonon phytolaccifolium'') is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family, known by the common name poke knotweed.

Description

''Koenigia phytolaccifolia'' is a perennial herb up to tall. The lance-shaped or pointed oval leaves are 10 to 20 centimeters long and borne on petioles. The leaves have large

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

s which form reddish

ochrea An ochrea (Latin ''ocrea'', greave or protective legging), also spelled ocrea, is a plant structure formed of stipules fused into a sheath surrounding the stem, and is typically found in the Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a family of flow ...

up to long. 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 a long array of branching cluster of many white or greenish flowers. Each flower is about wide and has tiny protruding

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s tipped with yellow or pink anthers.Flora of North America, ''Aconogonon phytolaccifolium'' (Meisner ex Small) Small 1917 Poke knotweed
/ref>

Distribution

''Koenigia phytolaccifolia'' is native to the western United States:

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

, and

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

.Turner Photographics, Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest, ''Polygonum phytolaccifolium'' Alpine Knotweed
photos, description, partial distribution map

References

External links

SEINet, Southwestern Biodiversity, Arizona Chapter
photos of herbarium specimens Polygonoideae Flora of the Western United States Plants described in 1872 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Polygonaceae-stub