Polygonaceae

Polygonum polygaloides

White-Margined Knotweed

Stems erect, more or less zigzag. Leaves narrow, with pointed tip, sessile with obvious appendage at joint. Flower stalks branched. Inflorescence to 3 in. long, clustered at stem tips, with white- or greenish-margined bracts. Flowers pink, red, or white with green or red midvein, may or may not open. Grows in vernal-moist places, often with ponderosa pine, to 10,000 ft. Subsp. confertiflorum has bracts in flower spike, pointing upward or outward with wide white edges becoming smaller near top. Subsp. kelloggii has narrow soft bracts with green edges, stem stout and compressed; often found in vernal-moist areas in shrub-steppe.

• Rarity: Locally Common
• Flowering Time: Mid Summer
• Life Cycle: Annual
• Height: 2--8 inches
• Habitat: Vernal Wet, Meadow, Shrub-Steppe, Alpine, Subalpine
• Found In: Siskiyous, Wallowas, Crater Lake Np
• Native: Yes