Swamp smartweed

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Pink smartweed flowers

Swamp smartweed

Swamp smartweed flowers

Swamp smartweed inflorescence

Swamp smartweed

Pink smartweed leaves

Swamp smartweed

Swamp smartweed

Swamp smartweed inflorescence

Swamp smartweed stipule

Swamp smartweed

Swamp smartweed leaves

Pink smartweed stem

Swamp smartweed habit

Morphology

Stem

Erect or lax, single or branched upward, glabrous or strigous, paper-like sheaths at leaf bases.

Leaves

Variable, alternate, simple, rust-colored with age, ovate-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 1 to 10 inches long and up to 2.5 inches wide, glabrous to stiff-hairy, usually not reduced above; margins often undulate; tips tapering to points; stalks .5 to 2.8 inch long; stipules entire.

Inflorescence

Spikes, 1 or rarely 2, erect, cylindrical, 1 to 6 inches long, dense, terminal on stem.

Flower

Perianth, 1/6 to 1/5 inch long, pink or rose; perianth segments 5, united, tips free; stamens 8, different length from styles, extending beyond perianth lobes; styles 2.

Fruit

Achene, egg-shaped to round, lens-shaped, 1/10 inch long, dark glossy; seed 1, small.

Ecology

Habitat

Low, wet areas of roadside ditches and crop fields, and along stream banks and the shorelines of ponds and marshes.

Distribution

Throughout Kansas, but more frequently in eastern 1/2.

Practical Information

Uses

The seeds are eaten by waterfowl and racoons. Native Americans used young shoots of swamp smartweed as a relish in the springtime, the roots to treat mouth sores, and the plant to brew a tea for stomachaches.

Additional Notes