Polygonum shastense

Shasta knotweed

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Shasta knotweed is a California native perennial found in the Sierra Nevada and High Cascade Mountains on rocky, gravelly slopes at elevations of 2,100 to 3,400 meters. Flowering from July to September, this plant produces delicate pink or white flowers in small clusters of 2 to 6 blooms. Growing with prostrate to ascending gnarled stems 5 to 40 centimeters long, the plant has a distinctive branched structure with brown, slightly angled stems. Its leaves are crowded toward the stem tips, with leathery lanceolate to elliptic blades 5 to 25 millimeters long, having margins rolled under and acute tips. The plant produces small, shiny brown fruits 3 to 4 millimeters long that are nestled among its densely clustered foliage.

Habitat: Rocky, gravelly slopes

Bloom period: Jul-Sep

Elevation: 2100-3400 m

Bioregions: CaRH, SNH

California counties: Fresno, Shasta, Alpine, Tulare, Kern, Mono, Siskiyou, Madera, Trinity, Nevada, Lassen, Sierra, Placer, Amador, Mariposa, Plumas, Butte, Tehama, El Dorado, Tuolumne, Solano

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