Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Medium

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

North America

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Common

About

A woodland perennial herb with small greenish-white flowers on a slender wandlike spike, named for its explosive seed capsules that catapult seeds several feet away when touched at maturity. Its heart-shaped leaves often bear a faint chevron-shaped watermark.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Caryophyllales

Family

Polygonaceae

Genus

Persicaria

Species

Persicaria virginiana