Smartweed
I’m guessing that this is Persicaria maculosa, lady’s-thumb smartweed, but there are many similar species:
The flowers are attractive seen close up, but otherwise this plant really is weedy. I pull it up armfuls of it in my garden, year after year. It’s a native plant (if my ID is correct), I’ve read that Native Americans used it to cure poison ivy. Taken at high magnification and stacked.
In the wild I see smartweed growing only in wet places, so I assume your garden has a pond or creek or some other source of water.
In my yard, I pull it out of the containers we pull annuals in. This plant was in the wild, in a dry upland area, but I’ve read that smartweed prefers wet places.
Lots in our yard too but not in any of our gardens so we let it be. I shot it a while ago but not a close up of the opened flowers. Nice.
Thanks, Steve. This stuff can take over our raised annual beds.
Amazing little flowers ! Very nice. 🙂
Thanks!
So wonderful 🙂
I learned to know smartweed as a member of the genus Polygonum. When I looked this up using the name you included, I found that Polygonum persicaria is a synonym. Apparently the taxonomists have been at it again.
Anyway: the photo really shows one of the defining characteristics of this species: the closely-spaced, more numerous blooms than on the species I know. The Illinois wildflower site notes that “Lady’s Thumb (Persicaria maculosa) is probably the most common and adaptable smartweed in Illinois. It occurs in both wetland habitats and surprisingly dry habitats. I have even found small plants of this species flowering underneath the shade of lawn trees.”
The Illinois wildflower site is wonderful, isn’t it? It is one of the best I’ve found.
This is a magnificent image, Tom. I have a lesser species of smartweed running rampant in all the standing water in what used to be my yard, and I quite like it. It turns a delicate orange this time of year.