Lady's thumb

Description:

The Lady's thumb is an annual herb with an erect rather floppy stem with swollen joints, growing to a height of 10 to 60 cm. The leaves are alternate and almost stalkless. The leaf blades often have a brown or black spot in the centre and are narrowly ovate and have entire margins. Each leaf base has stipules which are fused into a stem-enclosing sheath that is loose and fringed with long hairs at the upper end. The inflorescence is a dense spike. The perianth of each tiny pink flower consists of four or five lobes, fused near the base. There are six stamens, two fused carpels and two styles. The fruit is a shiny black, three-edged achene. This plant flowers from July to September.

Habitat:

Persicaria maculosa is native to Europe and Asia. It likes moist soils, particularly reach ones, and acid peaty loams. It can grow along roadsides, riverbanks, and on fallow ground.

Notes:

Spotted in rural area of Deventer, Holland.