DOTTED SMARTWEED
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Polygonum punctatum  Elliott
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 1-3 feet
Family: Polygonaceae - Buckwheat Family
Flowering Period:   July, August, September,October
Also Called: Water smartweed.
Stems: Erect or ascending, simple or branched; lower branches often decumbent and rooting at nodes.
Leaves: Alternate, lanceolate to elliptic, 1 to 6 inches long, up to 4.5 inch wide, tapered at both ends, short-stalked; stipules cylindric, with long bristles on top margin.
Inflorescences: Raceme, single or few, slender, erect or drooping, 1.5 to 4 inches long, 1/5 inch wide, terminal; flowers not crowded, lower ones often irregularly spaced.
Flowers: Perianth bases greenish, lobes whitish; covered with tiny glandular dots; stamens and styles not extending beyond perianth lobes.
Fruits: Achene, 3-angled or lens-shaped, dark.
Habitat: Marshes, stream edges, wet ditches, and pond and lake shores.
Distribution: East 4/5 of Kansas.
Uses: Native Americans treated stomach pains with a decoction of dotted smartweed leaves and flowers.
Comments: The common name refers to the tiny glandular dots on the perianth.

Dotted smartweed inflorescences
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Dotted smartweed
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Dotted smartweed leaves
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Dotted smartweed stipule
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas