Persicaria pensylvanica

Pinkweed

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Pinkweed is a naturalized annual herb found in eastern Sacramento Valley and other disturbed habitats, typically in moist places like riverbanks and drying ponds at elevations around 30 meters. Flowering from May to December, this plant produces white to pink flowers in dense, erect clusters with yellow, pink, or red anthers. Growing 10 to 200 centimeters tall with ascending to erect stems that are glabrous or lightly hairy, it spreads readily in open, damp environments. Its lance-shaped leaves measure 4 to 17 centimeters long with tapered bases and acuminate tips, often showing dark blotches on the upper surface. The fruit is a shiny, lens-shaped or three-angled structure 2 to 3.4 millimeters long, turning from brown to black when mature.

Habitat: Moist disturbed places, drying ponds, riverbanks, fields

Bloom period: May-Dec

Elevation: +- 30 m.

Bioregions: e ScV, expected elsewhere

California counties: Sonoma, Mendocino, Merced, San Diego, Butte, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Monterey

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