E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Persicaria maculosa Gray
lady's-thumb
Polygonaceae (Buckwheat family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Jim Riley  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #15480)

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Distribution of Persicaria maculosa
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Species Information

General:
Annual herb from a taproot; stems prostrate to erect, solitary, simple or branched, 30-100 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves alternate, lanceolate, the blades 3-10 cm long, smooth to appressed hairy, usually with a purplish spot near midlength, the stalks short, thick; stipules cylindric-conic, 5-15 mm long, entire, appressed hairy, fringed with bristly hairs at the tips.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of many flowers in crowded, cylindric, compound racemes; perianths pink or purplish, rarely white, 1.5-3.5 mm long, 5-lobed nearly to the base.
Fruits:
Achenes, 3-angled or lens-shaped, 2-3 mm long, egg-shaped to roundish, nearly black, smooth, shiny.
Notes:
Sometimes difficult to separate from P. hydropiperoides.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic to dry roadsides, ditches, fields and waste places in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common in SW BC, infrequent in SC and SE BC, rare northward along the coast; introduced from Eurasia.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Persicaria maculosa

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

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 350 837 1126
Slope Gradient (%) 0 0 0
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
0
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
7 7 8
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
D
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
3
Modal BEC Zone Class
IDF
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: BG(1), IDF(2)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Persicaria maculata (Raf.) S.F. Gray
Polygonum persicaria L.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References