Persicaria viscosa - Sticky Knotweed

Sticky Knotweed is an annual, smelly herb, with stems erect or rising up, 2-3 ft tall, much branched, densely hairy and glandular hairy. Red flower spikes are borne at branch-ends or in leaf-axils, 2-4 cm, usually several spikes aggregated and panicle-like. Stalks of the spikes are densely hairy and glandular hairy; bracts funnel-shaped, hairy and glandular hairy, margin sparsely long fringed with hairs, each 3-5-flowered. Flower-stalks longer than bracts. Flowers are pinkish, 5-parted; tepals elliptic, about 3 mm. Stamens are 8, included. Styles 3, fused to below middle. Leaf-stalks are short or nearly absent; leaf blade ovate-lanceshaped or elliptical-lanceshaped, 5-15 x 2-4 cm, both surfaces bristly, densely so along veins, margin entire, densely shortly fringed with hairs. Stipules are fused into a tubular sheath, 1-1.2 cm, membranous, densely glandular hairy. Seed-pods are enclosed in persistent tepals, black-brown, shiny, broadly ovoid, trigonous, about 2.5 mm. Sticky Knotweed is found in the Himalayas, east to China, Ussuri, Korea, Japan, and also in Western Ghats, from sea level to 1800 m. Flowering: July-September.