Pale smartweed

Polygonum lapathifolium

Description
Annual, many-formed, seed-propagated weed with spindle-shaped root.

Characteristic Features
Hollow stem swollen above the nodes, sunken glands on the lower surface of the leaves, nodding spikes, and flattened seeds.

Cotyledons
Slender, length three times the width, with usually reddish hypocotyls.

Stems
Erect or ascending, usually ramified, hairless, red spotted, up to 100 cm (39.37 inch) high.

Leaves
Elliptical-lanceolate, widest in the lowest third, markedly petiolate, upper surface often reddish-splotched, underside heavily glandularly dotted.
Membranous tube on the leaves' bases, loosely adjacent to the stalk.
At the margin only short ciliate (magnifying glass!).
First true leaf long, narrow and hairy, with a silvery appearance.

Plant Protection Products