Polygonella americana
Mem. Torrey Bot. Club 5: 141. 1894.
Subshrubs, perennial, synoecious, 5.5–9 dm. Stems erect, branched proximally and basally, glabrous. Leaves persistent; ocrea margins not ciliate; blade linear to spatulate, (4–)5–12(–19) × 0.5–0.9(–1.2) mm, base barely tapered, margins not hyaline, apex obtuse to acute, often erose, glabrous. Inflorescences (7–)18–30(–60) mm; ocreola encircling rachis, only the base adnate to rachis, apex acuminate. Pedicels spreading in anthesis and fruit, 0.4–2.3 mm, usually much longer than subtending ocreola. Flowers bisexual; outer tepals sharply reflexed early in anthesis and in fruit, white to pink, elliptic to ovate, 1.2–2.2 mm in anthesis, margins erose; inner tepals loosely appressed in anthesis and fruit, white to pink, ovate to suborbiculate, 1.7–2.9 mm in anthesis, margins erose; filaments dimorphic; anthers yellow or pink; styles and stigmas 0.5–1 mm in anthesis. Achenes included, reddish brown, 3(–4)-gonous, 2.5–4 × 1.3–2.3 mm, shiny, smooth. 2n = 36.
Phenology: Flowering Jun–Oct.
Habitat: Sandy roadsides, fields, riverbanks, scrub forests, waste places
Elevation: 10-200 m
Distribution
Ala., Ark., Ga., La., Mo., N.Mex., Okla., S.C., Tex.
Discussion
Selected References
None.