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Polygonum persicaria
| Common name: |
Red Leg |
Family: |
Polygonaceae |
| Author: |
L. |
Botanical references: |
17 |
| Synonyms: |
Persicaria persicaria ((L.)Small.), Persicaria maculosa (Gray.) |
| Known Hazards: |
Although no specific mention has been made for this species, there have been reports that some members of this genus can cause photosensitivity in susceptible people.
Many species also contain oxalic acid (the distinctive lemony flavour of sorrel) - whilst not toxic this substance can bind up other minerals making them unavailable to the body and leading to mineral deficiency. Having said that, a number of common foods such as sorrel and rhubarb contain oxalic acid and the leaves of most members of this genus are nutritious and beneficial to eat in moderate quantities. Cooking the leaves will reduce their content of oxalic acid. People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity should take especial caution if including this plant in their diet since it can aggravate their condition[238]. |
| Range: |
Temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, including Britain. |
| Habitat: |
Damp shady places[5]. A common weed of cultivated land, avoiding shade[1]. |
| Edibility Rating (1-5): |
1 | Medicinal Rating (1-5): | 2 |
| Other Possible Synonyms: | From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below. |
| P. dubium[B,P]
P. fusiforme[B,P]
P. minus[B]
P. minus auct. non[P]
P. minus var. subcontinuum[B,P]
P. persicaria var. angustifolium[B,P]
P. persicaria var. ruderale[B,P]
P. puritanorum[B,P]
Persicaria maculata[B,P]
Persicaria ruderalis[B,P]
Persicaria ruderalis var. vulgaris[B,P]
Persicaria vulgaris[B,P]
|
| Other Common Names: | From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below. |
| Acemotu [E], Arsmart [E], Hashishat Al Ger'An [E], Lady's-thumb [B], Lady's-thumb? [L], Persicaria [E], Perzikkruid [D], Redshank [L], Spotted Ladysthumb [P], |
| Epithets: | From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets |
|
persica = of Persia;
|
| Systematics: | From a USDA
Plants Database |
|
Order: Polygonales. Buckwheat family
|
| Other Range Info: |
From the Ethnobotany Database |
|
Europe; Iraq; Spain; Turkey
|
| Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds | From USDA
PLANTS database, Weeds Australia
, DEFRA Injurious Weeds | | Listed as noxious/invasive for: Minnesota. |
Physical Characteristics
Annual growing to 0.6m. It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower from June to October, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs).
The plant is self-fertile.
We rate it 1/5 for edibility and
2/5 for medicinal use.
The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils.
The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils.
It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade.
It requires moist soil.
Habitats and Possible Locations
Cultivated Beds.Edible Uses
Leaves; Seed.
Leaves and young shoots - raw or cooked[55, 62, 105, 183]. They contain
about 1.9% fat, 5.4% pectin, 3.2% sugars, 27.6% cellulose, 1% tannin[178].
Seed - raw or cooked. It is rather small and fiddly to utilize.
Medicinal Uses
Disclaimer
Astringent; Diuretic; Lithontripic; Poultice; Rubefacient; Vermifuge.
The leaves are astringent, diuretic, rubefacient and vermifuge[9, 21,
53, 178, 222]. An infusion has been used as a treatment for gravel and
stomach pains[257]. A decoction of the plant, mixed with flour, has been used
as a poultice to help relieve pain[257]. A decoction of the plant has been
used as a foot and leg soak in the treatment of rheumatism[257]. The crushed
leaves have been rubbed on poison ivy rash[257].
Other Uses
Dye.
A yellow dye is obtained from the plant when alum is used as a
mordant[207].
Cultivation details
Succeeds in an ordinary garden soil[1] but prefers a moisture retentive
not too fertile soil in sun or part shade[200]. Repays generous treatment[1].
Plants seem to be immune to the predations of rabbits[233].
Propagation
Seed - sow spring in situ.
Suppliers
For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.
Web References
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
- [E] Ethnobotany Data
(common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
- [B] Data
(Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
- [G] Data
(Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
- [C] Taxon data.
from the CalFlora database.
- [P] Data.
(uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
- [HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
References for Persicaria maculosa (a possible synonym).
References for persicaria maculosa (a possible synonym).
References for the family Polygonaceae.
See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.
Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.
[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).
[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.
[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.
[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
[53] De. Bray. L. The Wild Garden.
Interesting reading.
[55] Harris. B. C. Eat the Weeds. Pivot Health 1973
Interesting reading.
[62] Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1982 ISBN 0442222009
Very readable.
[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
[178] Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre
A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.
[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.
[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.
[233] Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants J. M. Dent & Sons, London. 1990 ISBN 0 460 86048 8
A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.
[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.
Readers Comments
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Bibliography
Plant information taken from the
Plants For A Future -
Species Database.
Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963 This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Polygonum+persicaria
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