Fallopia baldschuanica

Bukhara fleeceflower

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Bukhara fleeceflower is a naturalized perennial vine found in southern California coastal regions, San Francisco Bay Area, and potentially other disturbed places at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from August to October, this plant produces green-white flowers with white wings or mostly pink, clustered in spreading panicle-like clusters 3 to 15 centimeters long. Growing as a woody climbing vine reaching 2 to 10 meters tall, it has branches emerging near the base with smooth stems. Its leaves have heart-shaped bases, narrow to oblong-ovate blades 3 to 10 centimeters long, and distinctive brown ocrea (stipule-like sheaths) 3 to 8 millimeters wide with truncate margins. The fruit is small, dark brown to black, shiny, and 2 to 4 millimeters long, remaining enclosed within the flower structure.

Habitat: Disturbed places

Bloom period: Aug-Oct

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: SnFrB, SCo, expected elsewhere

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.