Least Water-pepper

Persicaria minor

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to uproot a plant without the landowner's consent and care should be taken at all times not to damage wild plants. Wild plants should never be picked for pleasure and some plants are protected by law.
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Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Caryophyllales

Family:

Polygonaceae (Dock)

Also in this family:

Alpine Bistort, Amphibious Bistort, Argentine Dock, Black Bindweed, Broad-leaved Dock, Clustered Dock, Common Bistort, Common Buckwheat, Common Knotgrass, Common Sorrel, Copse Bindweed, Cornfield Knotgrass, Curled Dock, Equal-leaved Knotgrass, Fiddle Dock, French Sorrel, Garden Rhubarb, Giant Knotweed, Golden Dock, Greek Dock, Iceland Purslane, Japanese Knotweed, Lesser Knotweed, Marsh Dock, Monk's Rhubarb, Mountain Sorrel, Northern Dock, Northern Knotgrass, Pale Persicaria, Patience Dock, Ray's Knotgrass, Red Bistort, Redleg, Russian Vine, Scottish Dock, Sea Knotgrass, Sheep Sorrel, Shore Dock, Tasteless Water-pepper, Water Dock, Water-pepper, Wood Dock

Type:

Flower

Life Cycle:

Annual

Maximum Size:

30 centimetres tall

Habitats:

Ditches, farmland, marshes, mud, riversides, swamps, waterside, wetland.

Flower:

Pink, 5 petals

Flowers are in a loose but slender spike. White flowers are rare. The flowers are pinker and more slender than those of the similar looking Tasteless Water-pepper (Persicaria mitis).

Fruit:

The fruit is a flat, oval nutlet.

Leaves:

Narrow, pointed, lance-shaped leaves. Almost stalkless. The leaves are narrower than those of Tasteless Water-pepper (Persicaria mitis).

Other Names:

Pygmy Smartweed, Small Smartweed, Small Water-pepper, Spotted Lady's Thumb.

Frequency (UK):

Unusual

Similar Species:

Tasteless Water-pepper

Distribution Map

Reproduced by kind permission of the BSBI.

Click to open an Interactive Map