Halberd-leaved Tearthumb

(Polygonum arifolium)

 

   

 

 

Color Photograph: Copyright Nearctica.com, Inc.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Halberd-leaved Tearthumb (Polygonum arifolium)

Identification: Flowers small, white or light pink, arranged in small, globular clusters on short flower stalks. Stems with recurved spines and swollen nodes at the intersection of the stem and a leaf. Leaves broad, arrowhead-shaped with two basal, lateraly projecting prongs. Leaf midrib with recurved spines. Upper leaves nearly sessile to the stem. Lower leaves with longer, prickly petioles.

Distribution: New Brunswick to Minnesota, southward to Georgia and Louisiana.

Habitat: Found in swamps and marshes (particuarly tidal marshes), and other wet areas.

Flowering period: July to October.

Similar Species: Arrow-leaved Tearthumb is similar and occurs in similar habitats. However the leaves of Arrow-leaved Tearthumb are narrower and the basal projections point downward, not outward.

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