Persicaria virginiana, also called jumpseed, Virginia knotweed or woodland knotweed[1] is a North American species of smartweed within the buckwheat family. It is unusual as a shade-tolerant member of a mostly sun-loving genus. Jumpseed is a perennial, named for its seeds which can "jump" several feet when a ripe seedpod is disturbed.
Persicaria virginiana blooms in midsummer to late summer/early fall. It has a stalk of small white flowers.
Like other Persicaria, jumpseed has alternate leaves, with fine-hairy stipular sheaths (ocrea) with bristle-fringed edges which often turn brownish. Flowers, widely spaced along slender stalks, are white to greenish-white, rarely pink-tinged, and fruiting flowers have 2 downward-pointing hook-tipped styles. Persicaria virginiana is easily distinguished from most other Persicaria species by its much larger, more oval-shaped leaves, although a few species also have large leaves. It sometimes has a chevron-shaped marking on the leaves; often a single plant will have this marking on some leaves but not others.
Cultivars and naturalized populations from cultivation show much greater variation than wild-type plants, sometimes having variegation or have more involved red patterning, and sometimes having red or pink flowers.
Persicaria virginiana has a wide native range throughout most of eastern North America (from Ontario and Quebec, south to Florida, and west as far as Texas, Nebraska, and Minnesota/),[2] as well as Japan and the Himalayas.[3] [4]
It naturally occurs in full to partial shade, on riverbanks, woods, cliffs, and rocks.[5]
Many variegated cultivars exist including 'Variegata' and 'Painter's Palette'.[4] The cultivated plant prefers medium to moist soil and full sun to part shade.[6]