Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Caryophyllales > Polygonaceae > Polygonum arenastrum > Polygonum arenastrum microspermum

Polygonum arenastrum microspermum (oval-leaf knotweed; ovalleaf knotweed; prostrate knotweed; common knotweed; matweed; doorweed)

Synonyms:

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Medium-High
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Flower Type [2]  Hermaphrodite
Hazards [2]  Although no specific mention has been made for this species, there have been reports that some members of this genus can cause photosensitivity in susceptible people. Many species also contain oxalic acid (the distinctive lemony flavour of sorrel) - whilst not toxic this substance can bind up other minerals making them unavailable to the body and leading to mineral deficiency. Having said that, a number of common foods such as sorrel and rhubarb contain oxalic acid and the leaves of most members of this genus are nutritious and beneficial to eat in moderate quantities. Cooking the leaves will reduce their content of oxalic acid. People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity should take especial caution if including this plant in their diet since it can aggravate their condition;
Lifespan [2]  Annual
Pollinators [2]  Insects, Lepidoptera, Bats
Structure [4]  Herb
Usage [2]  Yields a blue dye that is not much inferior to indigo; The part used is not specified, but it is likely to be the leaves. Yellow and green dyes are obtained from the whole plant; The roots contain tannins, but the quantity was not given;
Height [2]  12 inches (0.3 m)
Light Preference [3]  Mostly Sunny
Soil Acidity [3]  Neutral
Soil Fertility [3]  Intermediate
Soil Moisture [3]  Moist
View Plants For A Future Record : Polygonum arenastrum microspermum

Protected Areas

Ecosystems

External References

USDA Plant Profile

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3ECOFACT 2a Technical Annex - Ellenberg’s indicator values for British Plants, M O Hill, J O Mountford, D B Roy & R G H Bunce (1999)
♦ 4Kattge, J. et al. (2011b) TRY - a global database of plant traits Global Change Biology 17:2905-2935
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0