scale bar = 1cm.

Creeping Knotweed - a native (Persicaria prostrata)

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Family: Polygonaceae (Knotweed family).

Native of Australia and New Zealand.

Occurrence: Grows beside streams, and the margins of swamps and lakes.

Identification:

it grows in damp areas
it a prostrate plant
the flowers are in dense clusters to 4cm long
there are sheaths at the base of the leaves which surround the stem; the sheaths elongate into a leafy extension.

Pale Knotweed is a perennial.

Photos 1, 2: Creeping Knotweed. Bells Swamp. 3. The sheath at the leaf base has a green extension (now dried off on this pressed specimen)

There are three knotweeds common in the district. All grow in wet areas e.g.mud-flats, beside streams etc..
Creeping Knotweed Persicaria prostrata. Prostrate plant. Sheaths at leaf bases develop a green leaf at the tip.
Slender Knotweed Persicaria decipiens. Spreading or erect. Sheaths at leaf bases end in stiff hairs.
Pale Knotweed Persicaria lapathifolia. Erect plant tp 1 metre or more. Sheaths at base of leaves summit often torn, not ending in hairs.