Appearance
Redshank is an annual herb with an erect rather floppy stem with swollen joints, growing to a height of 10 to 60 cm. The leaves are alternate and almost stalkless. The leaf blades often have a brown or black spot in the centre and are narrowly ovate and have entire margins. Each leaf base has stipules which are fused into a stem-enclosing sheath that is loose and fringed with long hairs at the upper end. The inflorescence is a dense spike. The perianth of each tiny pink flower consists of four or five lobes, fused near the base. There are six stamens, two fused carpels and two styles. The fruit is a shiny black, three-edged achene. This plant flowers from July to September.
Habitat
It is native to Europe and Asia, where it can be mistaken for "Polygonum minus". The latter has narrower leaves, usually less than 1 cm wide. It has been introduced to North America and is naturalised throughout the mainland continent, growing along roadsides, riverbanks, and on fallow ground. In the USA, it is very similar to Pennsylvania smartweed, but redshank has a fringe of hairs at the top of the ochrea, something which Pennsylvania smartweed lacks.In the United Kingdom, this plant is a weed, without natural habitat, and always associated with human activity. It likes moist soils, particularly reach ones, and acid peaty loams. It does not like lime, and liming is cited as a means to fight it.References:
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