Alpine Knotweed

Alpine Knotweed

　　Alpine Knotweed

　　It is a perennial herbaceous plant. The stems are usually slightly covered in fine soft hairs, branching from the base and spreading loosely, reaching heights of 10–30 (40) cm. The stipular sheaths have sparse long hairs. The leaves are ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 3–5 (7) cm long and 0.7–1.5 cm wide, with a base that is slightly rounded to broadly wedge-shaped or wedge-shaped, and tapering to a pointed, slightly blunt tip. The surfaces are usually hairless, though the lower surface may have appressed hairs, and the margins are fringed with hairs. The panicle inflorescence is loosely spreading, with many leaves at the lower part and none at the upper part. The perianth is about 2.5–3 mm long, extending to up to 3.5 mm in fruit, and deeply 5-lobed. There are 8 stamens, the ovary is hairless, with 3 styles and capitate stigmas. The small nutlets are three-edged, 2.8–3.3 mm long, not exceeding the perianth segments, enclosed within or equal to them, or sometimes slightly protruding.

　　It grows on bare rocks in high mountains. It is distributed in Siberia, China (Northeast), Korea, and Japan.