Persicaria bistorta(L.) Samp.

common bistortmeadow bistort

WFO wfo-0000488076 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Persicaria bistorta, photographed by evgeniq_benihanov
fig. a evgeniq_benihanov, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-12 / obs. 205737406
Persicaria bistorta, photographed by Pavel Kacl
fig. b Pavel Kacl, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205533414
Persicaria bistorta, photographed by Jason Grant
fig. c Jason Grant, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205229999
Persicaria bistorta, photographed by Petr Kouba
fig. d Petr Kouba, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205211625
Persicaria bistorta, photographed by Katrin Simon
fig. e Katrin Simon, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203614262
Persicaria bistorta, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. f Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203323201
Persicaria bistorta, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. g Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203317119
Persicaria bistorta, photographed by E. A.
fig. h E. A., CC BY 4.0 / obs. 202640134

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 70 botanical countries

Regions where Persicaria bistorta is native: Morocco, Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Irkutsk, Japan, Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan, Manchuria, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Primorye, Qinghai, Sakhalin, Tadzhikistan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Tuva, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Assam, Nepal, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, South European Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, Alaska, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Yukon MoroccoAltayAmurBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastChitaInner MongoliaIranIraqIrkutskJapanKamchatkaKazakhstanKhabarovskKirgizstanKrasnoyarskMagadanManchuriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusPrimoryeQinghaiSakhalinTadzhikistanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeTuvaUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaAssamNepalPakistanWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSouth European RussiaSpainSwitzerlandUkraineAlaskaBritish ColumbiaNorthwest TerritoriesYukon Korea
Native distribution of Persicaria bistorta, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Chita CTA
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Irkutsk IRK
Japan JAP
Kamchatka KAM
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Kirgizstan KGZ
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Magadan MAG
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Primorye PRM
Qinghai CHQ
Sakhalin SAK
Tadzhikistan TZK
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Tuva TVA
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
East European Russia RUE
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Nepal NEP
Pakistan PAK
West Himalaya WHM
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
British Columbia BRC
Northwest Territories NWT
Yukon YUK
Morocco MOR AFRICA

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 1,404 in flower of 1,550 examined

Peak flowering in Oct. Each bar is the share of Persicaria bistorta observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 1,404 of 1,550 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 3 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 32 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Bistorta abbreviata Kom.
  • Bistorta carnea (K.Koch) Kom.
  • Bistorta elliptica (Willd. ex Spreng.) V.V.Petrovsky, D.F.Murray & Elven
  • Bistorta ensigera (Juz.) Tzvelev
  • Bistorta lapidosa Kitag.
  • Bistorta major Gray
  • Bistorta major subsp. carnea (K.Koch) Soják
  • Bistorta major subsp. cordifolia (Turcz.) Soják
  • Bistorta major subsp. elliptica (Willd. ex Spreng.) Soják
  • Bistorta major subsp. ensigera (Juz.) Soják
  • Bistorta major subsp. nitens (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Soják
  • Bistorta major subsp. plumosa (Small) H.Hara
  • Bistorta major var. ovata Nakai ex H.Hara
  • Bistorta major var. pacifica (Petrov ex Kom.) H.Hara
  • Bistorta nitens (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Kom.
  • Bistorta officinalis Delarbre
  • Bistorta officinalis subsp. japonica (H.Hara) Yonek.
  • Bistorta officinalis subsp. pacifica (Petrov ex Kom.) Yonek.
  • Bistorta pacifica Kom.
  • Bistorta pacifica f. velutina Kitag.
  • Bistorta pacifica var. tomentella (Kom.) Tzvelev
  • Bistorta plumosa (Small) Greene
  • Bistorta subauriculata Kom.
  • Bistorta vulgaris Hill

and 8 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.