Polygonum Cuspidatum

Scientific Name: Polygonum cuspidatum

Common Name: Japanese knotweed

Symbol: POCU6

Category: Dicot

Genus: Polygonum

Family: Polygonaceae

Family Common Name: Buckwheat family

Order: Polygonales

Class: Magnoliopsida

Subkingdom: Tracheobionta

Kingdom: Plantae

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Subshrub, Forb/herb

Native Status: L48 (I), AK (I), CAN (I)

State Noxious: AL (CCW), CA (BW), CT (IB), MA (P), NH (PIS), OR (BDW, Q), WA (CBW, NWSPQ)

Edible: unknown

Japanese knotweed

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Scientific Name: Polygonum Cuspidatum

Common Name(s): Japanese Knotweed

Edible: yes

Medicinal: yes

Parts Used: stem

oneraindog
28 May, 2009

Large perennial herb to 10 ft high often forming dense colonies. Stems are upright with a hollow core, smooth, mottled with light brown spots and frequent branchings. Leaves alternate, simple, 4-6 inches long, 2-5 inches wide, broadest near the base, long tipped, wavy along the margins, squared to rounded at the base with a somewhat leathery texture. The jointed leafstalk is stout and sturdy, enclosed at base by membranous sheath that also surrounds the stem. Flowers produced in elongate, branched clusters in junctions of upper leaves. Each flower is tiny 1-2mm long, white. Japanese knotweed grows on disturbed soil, along roadsides and riverbanks, in other moist areas, and in fields Locate papery, dry, woody stalks of the previous year. Gather young shoots up to 1 ft for pot herb, up to 3 ft for other uses. Boil tips of young shoots in saltwater. serve like asparagus. peel older stalks and use like rhubarb. Slice the stems, steam as a vegetable, and simmer in soups, sauces, fruit compotes, and jam, or bake in dessert dishes The plant is an excellent source of resveratol, a substance known to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, reducing the risk of heart attacks. Resveratol has been claimed to delay the onset of Alzheimer's or slow its progression. Also good source for vitamin A, along with vitamin C and its cofactor, the antioxidant flavonoid rutin. also provides potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and manganese Large quantities of Japanese knotweed will act as a laxative.

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Polygonum Cuspidatum

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