Persicaria capitata

Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 18/05/2006, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>

Polygonum capitatum.<br>Photographer: John Smith-Dodsworth, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.

Stem node and ochrea. Whanganui. May 2011.<br>Photographer: Colin C. Ogle, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>

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Common name

pink headed knot weed

Synonyms

Polygonum capitatum

Family

Polygonaceae

Authority

Persicaria capitata (Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don) H.Gross

Flora category

Vascular – Exotic

Structural class

Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites

Conservation status

Not applicable

Habitat

Terrestrial. Favours dry banks in full sun (DoC, 1998). Problem only in open rocky areas; requires full light (Cameron 1996).

Features

Trailing plant, often used as garden ground cover. Fine hairs on leaves and stems, giving distinctive red colour and pattern. Distinctive pink flower heads, numerous, over long season, about 1.5cm across (DoC, 1998).

Flowering

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Flower colours

Red/Pink

Year naturalised

1958

Origin

Warm temperate Himalaya

Etymology

persicaria: Medieval name referring to the likeness of the leaves to a peach tree

capitata: From the Latin capitus ‘head’, with a knob-like head or tip

Reason For Introduction
Ornamental

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