This weedy wetland plant is everywhere right now, but less than last week
iNaturalist Community
Invasive Species
If you've noticed pink-flowered weeds crowding muddy ditches or pond edges lately, you're probably seeing this fast-spreading plant that other naturalists are logging by the hundreds right now.
Low smartweed is a small plant with pink flower spikes that loves wet, disturbed ground like ditches, pond edges, and stream banks. This week nearly 600 people across the US logged a sighting of it on iNaturalist, making it one of the most commonly spotted plants in the country right now, even though that's about 200 fewer sightings than the week before.
Key Findings
599 observations of Persicaria longiseta were logged in the US over the past 7 days
That's a decrease of 198 observations from the prior week's total of 797
The species ranks among the most frequently observed plants on iNaturalist nationwide this week
chevron_right Technical Summary
Low smartweed, a wetland weed, is one of the most-logged plants on iNaturalist this week with 599 sightings across the US, though that's down from 797 the week before.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Trending: low smartweed (Persicaria longiseta) — 599 observations this week
Low smartweed (Persicaria longiseta) is a species in the family Polygonaceae. iNaturalist users recorded 599 observations of it in the United States in the 7 days before today, among the most for a...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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Persicaria longiseta is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by the common names Oriental lady's thumb, bristly lady's thumb, Asiatic smartweed, long-bristled smartweed, low smartweed, Asiatic waterpepper, bristled knotweed, bunchy knotweed, and tufted knotweed. It is native ...