Persicaria punctataSmall

dotted smartweed

WFO wfo-0000488288 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Persicaria punctata, photographed by Bahiano Ayala
fig. a Bahiano Ayala, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-03-11 / obs. 188739246
Persicaria punctata, photographed by Tom Lazar
fig. b Tom Lazar, CC0 1.0 / obs. 156895018
Persicaria punctata, photographed by Jack Beusmans
fig. c Jack Beusmans, CC0 1.0 / obs. 155588900
Persicaria punctata, photographed by Katie Kucera
fig. d Katie Kucera, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 170589466
Persicaria punctata, photographed by Yann Kemper
fig. e Yann Kemper, CC0 1.0 / obs. 151745913
Persicaria punctata, photographed by Ryan Sorrells
fig. f Ryan Sorrells, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 151669086
Persicaria punctata, photographed by Mary Crickmore
fig. g Mary Crickmore, CC0 1.0 / obs. 151302998
Persicaria punctata, photographed by Samuel A Schmid, PhD, PWS
fig. h Samuel A Schmid, PhD, PWS, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 145669221

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 96 botanical countries

Regions where Persicaria punctata is native: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Cayman Is., Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Galápagos, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, Windward Is. AlabamaArizonaArkansasBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusettsMexico CentralMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNova ScotiaOhioOklahomaOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecSaskatchewanSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruPuerto RicoSurinameTrinidad-TobagoUruguayVenezuela DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.BahamasBermudaCayman Is.GalápagosLeeward Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Persicaria punctata, 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
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
Saskatchewan SAS
South Carolina SCA
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Bahamas BAH
Belize BLZ
Bermuda BER
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Cayman Is. CAY
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Galápagos GAL
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN

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 262 in flower of 379 examined

Peak flowering in Jul. Each bar is the share of Persicaria punctata 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. 262 of 379 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 2 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 29 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.

  • Discolenta punctata Raf.
  • Persicaria punctata var. eciliata (Small) Small
  • Persicaria punctata var. tacubayana Nieuwl.
  • Polygonum acre Lam.
  • Polygonum acre Kunth
  • Polygonum acre var. aquatile (Mart.) Meisn.
  • Polygonum acre var. brachystachyum Meisn.
  • Polygonum acre var. confertiflorum Meisn.
  • Polygonum acre var. leptostachyum Meisn.
  • Polygonum acre var. majus Meisn.
  • Polygonum acre var. riparium (Mart.) Meisn.
  • Polygonum antihaemorrhoidale f. aquatile Mart.
  • Polygonum antihaemorrhoidale f. riparium Mart.
  • Polygonum antihaemorrhoidale var. aquatile (Mart.) Mart.
  • Polygonum antihaemorrhoidale var. riparium Mart.
  • Polygonum epilobioides Wedd.
  • Polygonum punctatum Elliott
  • Polygonum punctatum f. longicollum Fassett
  • Polygonum punctatum f. stipitatum Fassett
  • Polygonum punctatum var. aquatile (Mart.) Fassett
  • Polygonum punctatum var. confertiflorum (Meisn. ex DC.) Fassett
  • Polygonum punctatum var. ellipticum Fassett
  • Polygonum punctatum var. leptostachyum Small
  • Polygonum punctatum var. littorale Fassett

and 5 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. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol POPU5. public domain. 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.