New Smartweed Species Described in New Jersey
Botanists from the New York Botanical Garden have described a new smartweed, Persicaria extremiorientalis, established on the east coast of the United States, including portions of New Jersey. A recent article in the most recent issue of the Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society indicates the smartweed is an established species in Northern and eastern New Jersey. Researchers discovered this plant was first collected in Queens New York in 1961 but identified as Polygonum lapathifolium. Subsequent collections have found it spread from New York to New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and North Carolina.
Persicaria extremiorientalis is a relative newly described species from the far eastern realms of Russia. The International Botanical Names Index indicates the earliest the synonym extremiorientalis in use was 1984 under the genus Polygonum and 1987 as a member of Persicaria. It has been collected in New Jersey within Bergen, Burlington, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren counties. The article provides a well written key to distinguish between this new described plant and similar species that includes Persicaria lapathifolium and P. maculosa.
References:
Atha E., Daniel, Michael H. Nee and Robert F. C. Naczi. 2011. Persicaria extremiorientalis (Polygonaceae) is established in the flora of eastern United States of America. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, Volume 137, Number 4, 333-338.
I.B.N.I. 2011. Persicaria extremiorientalis
