Bistorta vivipara (L.) Gray
alpine bistort
Polygonaceae (Buckwheat family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
alpine bistort
Polygonaceae (Buckwheat family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a short, thick, often contorted rhizome; stems erect, solitary, simple, 10-30 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves alternate, lanceolate to oblong or egg-shaped, the blades 3-10 cm long, the stalks longer than the blades; stem leaves 2-4, nearly linear, reduced and becoming unstalked upwards; stipules brown, strongly sheathing, 1-5 cm long, entire.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a single, terminal, spikelike raceme, 2-10 cm long, mostly 1-1.5 mm wide, the lower flowers replaced by small pinkish to purple bulblets; perianths 3-3.5 mm long, white or pink, 5-lobed 2/3 or more the distance to the base.
Fruits:
Achenes, 3-angled, dark brown, smooth to somewhat granular, 2-3 mm long, usually not developing.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Bistorta vivipara
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1741 | 14 | 2675 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
18 | 0 | 300 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
245 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 0 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
866 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
BAFA | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(73), BAFA(389), BWBS(9), ESSF(183), ICH(2), IDF(2), IMA(27), MH(2), MS(11), SBPS(3), SBS(3), SWB(98) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist forest openings, meadows, streambanks and rocky slopes and ridges in the upper montane to alpine zones; frequent in and east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains in BC, rare along the coast; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to NH, MN, MI, UT, NM and OR; Eurasia, Iceland.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Persicaria vivipara (L.) Ronse Decr.
Polygonum fugax Small
Polygonum macounii Small ex Macoun
Polygonum viviparum L.
Polygonum viviparum var. alpinum Wahlenb.
Polygonum viviparum var. macounii (Small ex Macoun) Hultén