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DESCRIPTION:
Ladysthumb is an annual broadleaf weed that grows in moist soil.
Seedlings have dull green, oval seed
leaves that are 1-1/2 to 2 times longer than
wide. It has erect or spreading stems, usually 1 to 3-feet (30 - 90 cm) long. Stems
can initiate roots at lower joints on the lower stem. Leaves of ladysthumb
alternate along the stem and are narrow, lance-shaped
and have a characteristic purplish blotch near the middle.
Leaf sheaths are tipped with short bristles.
Flowers are small, pink, and borne in dense
erect terminal spikes about 1-inch (2.5 cm)
long.
Pale smartweed (P. lapathifolium),
and ladysthumb are similar in appearance but pale smartweed lacks
the purple blotch on its leaves and the short bristles on the leaf
sheaths, and its flower spikes are more drooping and paler in color
than those of ladysthumb. Individual flowers in a ladysthumb spike
open, whereas those of pale smartweed do not.
Broadleaf ID illustration.
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