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Polygonum hydropiperoides Michx.
Mild water pepper, swamp smartweed, false waterpepper
False waterpepper is a perennial native to North and South America, so named because it is easily
confused with water pepper (Persicaria hydropiper).
Plants: Erect to sprawling perennials. Stems are green to
red, 6–39″ (15–100 cm) long, but slender
and with upper portions usually erect.
(Compare to P. amphibium,
with stems up to ⅜″ (1 cm) around, and more often sprawled along the surface of the water).
Leaves: Alternate, lanceolate, bristly,
with smooth edges.
Floating or upright, up to
4 ⨉ ⅜–⅞″ (10 ⨉ 1–2.5 cm), tapering to a sharp point. Leaf stalks (petioles) are less than
⅛″ (5 mm) long. Leaves are not mottled.
Where they connect to the stem, there is a sheath called the ocrea
typical of this genus. The ocrea is brown, cylindric, and ⅛–⅞″ (5–23 mm) long,
with an inflated base, topped with hairs 1/16–⅜″ (2–10 mm).
Flowers: Greenish, pinkish, or white flowers form loose,
elongated spikes 1–3″ (3–8 cm) long and 1/16–⅛″ (2–5 mm) around. The spikes are on
peduncles ⅜–1″ (1–3 cm) long.
Fruits: Dry, hard, smooth, shiny achenes each contain a single
seed. They are 1/32–⅛″ (1.5–3 mm) long, and three-sided.
Habitats: Often forming mats along lake or pond margins.
Persicaria hydropiperoides (Michx.) Small Persicaria hydropiperoides (Michx.) Small var. breviciliata (Fernald) C.F. Reed Persicaria hydropiperoides (Michx.) Small var. euronotora (Fernald) C.F. Reed Persicaria hydropiperoides (Michx.) Small var. opelousana (Riddell ex Small) J.S. Wilson Persicaria opelousana (Riddell ex Small) Small Persicaria paludicola Small Persicaria persicarioides (Kunth) Small Polygonum hydropiperoides Michx. var. adenocalyx (Stanford) Gleason Polygonum hydropiperoides Michx. var. asperifolium Stanford Polygonum hydropiperoides Michx. var. breviciliatum Fernald Polygonum hydropiperoides Michx. var. bushianum Stanford Polygonum hydropiperoides Michx. var. digitatum Fernald Polygonum hydropiperoides Michx. var. euronotorum Fernald Polygonum hydropiperoides Michx. var. opelousanum (Riddell ex Small) Riddell ex W. Stone Polygonum hydropiperoides Michx. var. psilostachyum H. St. John Polygonum hydropiperoides Michx. var. strigosum (Small) Stanford Polygonum opelousanum Riddell ex Small Polygonum opelousanum Riddell ex Small var. adenocalyx Stanford Polygonum persicarioides Kunth
ID is uncertain 
