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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY | |||||||||
| The buckwheats are common in northern temperate regions like Saskatchewan. The roots are fibrous or taproots. The stems can be solid or hollow, lying on the ground, or upright. The stems may be swollen at the nodes. The leaves can be in basal rosettes or basal and alternate on the stem. At the base of the leaf, some species have fused, papery stipules forming a sheath around the stem. The leaf margins may be smooth, round-toothed, wavy, or lobed. The flowers are usually perfect. The perianth is made of tepals instead of separate petals and sepals. The tepals are petal-like and are white, greenish, pinkish, yellowish, or reddish in colour. Each flower has between six and nine stamens. The fruits are yellowish, brown, red, or black. | |||||||||
| DOTTED SMARTWEED | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Polygonum punctatum var. confertiflorum | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Dotted smartweed grows as tall as 120 cm. This species often has rhizomes. The stems are erect and are simple or branched. The plant is generally hairless but is covered in glandular dots. The stipules at the base of the leaves are fused and are papery in texture. The stipules are brown and dotted with glands. The flowers are in interrupted clusters of two to six flowers. The tepals are greenish or whitish. The stamens have pink or red anthers. The fruits are brownish-black. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Dotted smartweed grows on wet marshy or gravelly shores, in forests, bogs or wet fens. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in central Saskatchewan in the Mid-Boreal Upland and Churchill River Upland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Dotted smartweed is threatened because of rarity in Saskatchewan. No threats are known for this species but may occur in the future. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY DOTTED SMARTWEED | |||||||||
| * Are the tepals white and greenish? * Are the anthers pink or red? * Are the stipules fused at the base? * Did you find it in central Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found dotted smartweed! | |||||||||
