Persicaria virginiana (L.) Gaertn.

Jumpseed

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Jumpseed is a native herbaceous perennial in the Buckwheat family (Polygonaceae). It occurs throughout Alabama. Jumpseed occurs in swamps and marshes, in floodplain forests, and in mesic or low woodlands. Jumpseed is an herbaceous perennial from an elongate rhizome. The stems are erect, 1-3 feet in height, ribbed, glabrous or pubescent, and green or reddish brown in color. The leaves are alternate, petiolate or sometimes sessile, pubescent, elliptic to lanceolate in outline, with entire margins. The ocrea is tubular, membranous, brownish in color, and with long bristles at the apex. Flowers are produced in elongate terminal inflorescences of fascicles, each with 1-3 individual flowers. The fascicles do not overlap along the axis. Each flower has a white or greenish perianth and yellow or pinkish anthers. The fruit is a brown biconvex achene enclosed by the persistent perianth. The mature fruit of Jumpseed are thrown 1-6 feet from the plant when it is bumped. This is caused by tension in the articulation of the pedicels. The persistent style is hooked, causing the fruit to attach to clothing or the fur of animals.—A. Diamond.

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Native

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