Flowers are on slender spikes 3/8 to 2 1/2 in. long, usually drooping; calyx 5-lobed, greenish white to pink about 1/16 in.  Stamens, 6. Flowers remain closed.  Yorba Regional Park, Anaheim, CA. 8-25-07. © Joan Avise.

Willow or Pale Smartweed
(Willow Weed)

Persicaria (= Polygonum) lapathifolia

A species that occurs in Europe and may be an introduced species in California (Clarke, p.155). It is an annual, widespread and common along ponds and streams, ditches and other wet places (Roberts).  Seeds are lens-shaped with a ridge on the side suggesting three sides (Clarke, p.155).  Native Americans used Persicaria seeds for food, and the roots for medicine. The Yokut Indians of central California used this species as a fish poison (Campbell 433)

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Stems may be simple or branched, conspiculously swollen at the nodes, and can grow to 9 ft. Yorba Regional Park, Anaheim, CA. 8-25-07. © Joan Avise.
Leaf stipules consist of a transparent membrane (ocrea) that ensheaths the stem just above the point of leaf attachment.  In this species it is cylindric and veined. Beside creek, Mason Regional Park, Irvine, CA. 10-01-11. © Joan Avise.

Huntington Central Park, Huntington Beach, CA 9-16-11. © Joan Avise.
In drainage ditch Huntington Central Park, Huntington Beach, CA 9-16-11. © Joan Avise.

The sharp-tipped lance shaped leaves may or may not show dark blotches on the upper surface. Huntington Central Park, Huntington Beach, CA. 6-16-07. © Joan Avise.
Typical drooping flower spikes Yorba Regional Park, Anaheim, CA. 8-25-07. © Joan Avise.

San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, CA. © Joan Avise.
Aliso and Wood Canyon Wilderness Park, Aliso Viejo, Orange County, CA. 8/24/13. © Peter J. Bryant