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Wildlife, Animals, and Plants
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Introductory
SPECIES: Polygonum spp. | Smartweed
ABBREVIATION :
POLSPP
SYNONYMS :
NO-ENTRY
SCS PLANT CODE :
POLYG4
COMMON NAMES :
smartweed
knotweed
bindweed
pinkweed
jumpseed
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted genus name for smartweed is Polygonum L.
(Polygonaceae) [15]. There may be as many as 150 species in this genus
[20]. This report treats smartweed at the genus level, with the mention
of certain species where appropriate.
LIFE FORM :
Shrub, Forb
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
See OTHER STATUS
OTHER STATUS :
P. marinense, found only in Marin County, California, is listed in the
Federal Register under Category 2 [11,34]. Other species with special
status include P. fusiforme, P. montereyense, and P. pensylvanicum var.
eglandulosum [34].
COMPILED BY AND DATE :
S. A. Snyder, June 1992
LAST REVISED BY AND DATE :
NO-ENTRY
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Snyder, S. A. 1992. Polygonum spp. In: Remainder of Citation
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Polygonum spp. | Smartweed
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Smartweed is a cosmopolitan genus found in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the
Americas. In North America it is distributed from the Northwest
Territories south through Mexico and from coast to coast [15]. It is
found in Alaska and all the contiguous United States; it is probably
found in Hawaii also, although there is no specific reference to its
occurrence there.
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES11 Spruce - fir
FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
FRES40 Desert grasslands
FRES41 Wet grasslands
FRES42 Annual grasslands
FRES44 Alpine
STATES :
AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA
HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD
MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ
NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC
TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY AB
BC LB MB NB NF NS ON PQ SK YT
MEXICO
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS :
NO-ENTRY
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
3 Southern Pacific Border
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
14 Great Plains
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K011 Western ponderosa forest
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K015 Western spruce - fir forest
K016 Eastern ponderosa forest
K017 Black Hills pine forest
K018 Pine - Douglas-fir forest
K019 Arizona pine forest
K020 Spruce - fir - Douglas-fir forest
K021 Southwestern spruce - fir forest
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K035 Coastal sagebrush
K037 Mountain-mahogany - oak scrub
K038 Great Basin sagebrush
K039 Blackbrush
K040 Saltbush - greasewood
K041 Creosotebush
K046 Desert: vegetation largely lacking
K048 California steppe
K049 Tule marshes
K052 Alpine meadows and barren
K055 Sagebrush steppe
K056 Wheatgrass - needlegrass shrubsteppe
K057 Galleta - threeawn shrubsteppe
K059 Trans-Pecos shrub savanna
K063 Foothills prairie
K064 Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
K065 Grama - buffalograss
K066 Wheatgrass - needlegrass
K067 Wheatgrass - bluestem - needlegrass
K069 Bluestem - grama prairie
K070 Sandsage - bluestem prairie
K071 Shinnery
K072 Sea oats prairie
K074 Bluestem prairie
K075 Nebraska Sandhills prairie
K080 Marl - Everglades
K081 Oak savanna
K092 Everglades
K098 Northern floodplain forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
16 Aspen
80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
210 Interior Douglas-fir
217 Aspen
237 Interior ponderosa pine
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Polygonum bistortoides is named as a community component in the
following plant community typing:
A meadow site classification for the Sierra Nevada, California [30]
VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Polygonum spp. | Smartweed
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Smartweed is an important wildlife food for deer and waterfowl
[19,22,29,32]. In northwest Missouri, smartweed accounts for 85 percent
of mallard diets in certain habitats [18]. Smartweed ranks third of all
plants consumed during fall in other parts of Missouri [13].
PALATABILITY :
Some species of smartweed provide poor to good forage for cattle, sheep,
and horses in the western states [12].
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
Some species of smartweed provide poor to good cover for upland game
birds, waterfowl, nongame birds, and small mammals [12].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Many species of smartweed are considered undesirable weeds [20].
Smartweed invades cultivated raspberry patches and agricultural fields.
It can be controlled with chemicals such as Roundup, Casoron, Princep,
and Gramoxone [9]. Smartweed tends to be eliminated when wetlands are
converted into agricultural land [25]. To maintain smartweed for
waterfowl food in irrigated desert playas of the southern high plains,
soil must be moist during early April. These playas must also be kept
moist from mid to late June and early August. From November to January,
1 foot of water should be maintained in the playa [19].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Polygonum spp. | Smartweed
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Smartweed is a highly variable genus, which includes annual or perennial
forbs and shrubs [15]. Some species are viney. The leaves are usually
simple and alternate. The pink, green, or white flowers have jointed
stalks and stems have swollen nodes [17]. Flowers can be either perfect
or imperfect. The fruit is a three- or four-angled achene [20]. Some
species have rhizomes or taproots [35].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Chamaephyte
Cryptophyte: Geophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Smartweed reproduces by seed and by rhizomes. The average number of
seeds for P. hydropiperoides collected on the Texas Gulf Coast was 581
pounds per acre (650 kg/ha) dry weight [32].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Smartweed species are mostly found in wetlands, sandy beaches, saline or
brackish ponds and marshes, and in inundated swales and marshes [15].
They can also be found in cultivated fields, thickets, swampy woods,
clearings, wastelands, along roadsides, in prairies, and on rocky, dry
or cool and damp slopes. Some species grow in alpine or subalpine
meadows and on rocky summits [15]. P. careyi is reported to occur on
recent burns. Elevational ranges for some western species of smartweed
have been listed as follows [12]:
Utah: from 4,200 to 12,300 feet (1,280-3,750 m)
Colorado: from 3,500 to 13,400 feet (1,067-4,085 m)
Wyoming: from 3,500 to 12,000 feet (1,067-3,660 m)
Montana: from 2,800 to 10,500 feet (853-3,200 m)
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Many smartweed species are introduced, while others are native to North
America. Most are shade intolerant [15]. P. cilinode appears to be
dominant on severely burned forested areas of northern Minnesota for the
first three postfire seasons [1]. Some species of smartweeed are
dominant in the nonpersistent emergent marsh communities of the Savannah
River in South Carolina [27]. P. coccineum is an indicator of fire in
wetlands [28]. Other species of smartweed are early seral species which
dominate sites for the first 5 to 7 postdisturbance years [2].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Flowering dates for smartweed species vary. Most of the southern
species flower in May and June, while their northern counterparts flower
from July through November. Some species in Texas, Arkansas, and
Oklahoma can flower as late as November [15].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Polygonum spp. | Smartweed
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Smartweed can reproduce by seed or sprout from rhizomes following fire
[1].
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
survivor species; on-site surviving rhizomes
off-site colonizer; seed carried by animals or water; postfire yr 1&2
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Polygonum spp. | Smartweed
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Fire top-kills smartweed.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Smartweeds usually sprout from seeds following fire. They tend to
reproduce more after severe burns than after light burns [1,10].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
P. cilinode, an annual, has been known to colonize severely burned sites
in the forests of northeastern Minnesota [1]. August wildfires in the
pine forests of northern Minnesota resulted in an increase of P.
cilinode from zero percent cover on the unburned sites to 36 percent
ground cover on the burned sites [4]. P. bistortoides was present
following wildfires in krummholz and alpine meadows of the central Rocky
Mountains [7]. P. convolvulus sprouted from seed following a May
prescribed burn in shrub communities of central Alberta. However, this
species was only prevalent for the first postfire year [3].
Fire was simulated in northern Alberta wetlands to monitor its potential
effects on the plant community. Here, P. amphibium was almost equal in
percent cover for the three treatments: no burn, "light burn," and
"deep" burn in willow (Salix spp.) savanna zones [21]. ("Deep burns"
had the first 2 to 4 inches (5-10 cm) of soil removed and the new
surface burned with a propane torch for 1 minute; "light burns" had some
soil removed and the new surface lightly burned with a propane torch).
In the pinegrass (Calamagrostis spp.) zones of these same Alberta
wetlands, P. amphibium was found in trace amounts on the unburned and
lightly burned sites, and not at all on the "deeply" burned sites.
Prescribed fires on sagebrush (Artemesia spp.)-grass (Poaceae) ranges in
northern Idaho showed significant differences in P. douglasii cover
between the light to moderately burned and severely burned sites [8].
Only 7 pounds/acre (7.83 kg/ha) of this species was found on unburned
sites, while 26 pounds/acre (29 kg/ha) were found on severely burned
sites. Smaller differences in cover were shown for light and moderately
burned areas compared to unburned sites.
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Where smartweed is a desired waterfowl food fire can be used to
stimulate the growth of smartweeds while reducing competition from sedge
(Carex spp.), cattail (Typha spp.), and giant reed (Phragmites spp.)
[23].
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Polygonum spp. | Smartweed
REFERENCES :
1. Ahlgren, Clifford E. 1960. Some effects of fire on reproduction and
growth of vegetation in northeastern Minnesota. Ecology. 41(3): 431-445.
[207]
2. Ahlgren, Clifford E. 1979. Buried seed in the forest floor of the
Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Minnesota Forestry Research Note No. 271.
St. Paul, MN: University of Minnesota, College of Forestry. 4 p. [3459]
3. Anderson, Murray L.; Bailey, Arthur W. 1979. Effect of fire on a
Symphoricarpos occidentalis shrub community in central Alberta. Canadian
Journal of Botany. 57: 2820-2823. [2867]
4. Apfelbaum, Steven; Haney, Alan. 1981. Bird populations before and after
wildfire in a Great Lakes pine forest. Condor. 83: 347-354. [8556]
5. Barth, Richard C. 1970. Revegetation after a subalpine wildfire. Fort
Collins, CO: Colorado State University. 142 p. Thesis. [12458]
6. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
7. Billings, W. D. 1969. Vegetational pattern near alpine timberline as
affected by fire-snowdrift interactions. Vegetatio. 19: 192-207.
[12824]
8. Blaisdell, James P. 1953. Ecological effects of planned burning of
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9. Bonanno, A. Richard x.
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summer range. Journal of Wildlife Management. 34(40): 852-862. [1219]
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Index
Related categories for Species: Polygonum spp.
| Smartweed
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