Persicaria arifolia (Linnaeus) Haraldson. Section: Echinocaulon. Common name: Halberd-leaf Tearthumb. Phenology: Jul-Nov; Aug-Dec. Habitat: Marshes, wet thickets. Distribution: NS west to MN. south to se. GA, ne. FL (Slaughter 2014; Franck et al. 2016), w. NC, and w. TN.
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Synonymy ⓘ: = Can, FNA5, K4, Mi, Mo3, NE, NY, Pa, Tn, Va; = Polygonum arifolium L. — C, GW2, RAB, Tat, W, WV, Horton (1972), Mitchell & Dean (1978), Park (1988); = Tracaulon arifolium (L.) Raf. — S, S13; = Truellum arifolium (L.) Soják; > Polygonum arifolium L. var. arifolium — F, G; > Polygonum arifolium L. var. pubescens (R.Keller) Fernald — F, G; > Tracaulon arifolium (L.) Raf. var. pubescens (Keller) Mohlenbr. — Il. Basionym: Polygonum arifolium L. 1753
Links to other floras: = Persicaria arifolia - FNA5
Show parent genus | Show parent in key(s)
Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: OBL
- Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: OBL
- Great Plains: OBL
- Midwest: OBL
- Northcentral & Northeast: OBL
Heliophily ⓘ: 7
Hover over a shape, letter, icon, or arrow on the map for definition or see the legend.








Feedback
See something wrong or missing on about Persicaria arifolia? Let us know here: (Please include your name and email if at all complicated so we can clarify if needed.) We greatly appreciate feedback, and will include updates from you in our next webapp update, which can take a few months. If a species is not keyed, that's because keying is ongoing. Please don't send us feedback about unkeyed species.
Horticultural Information
Intro: Reclining-scrambling annual/perennial of marshes, tidal swamps, floodplain pools and wet thickets.
Stems: Stems branched, ridged, the angles with hooked prickles.
Leaves: Leaves alternate, petiolate with a prickled and hairy sheath (ocrea) where petiole joins stem, triangular with flaring basal lobes and sharp-pointed tip, 1-7 in. long, sparsely hairy above and with star-shaped hairs beneath.
Inforescence:
Flowers: Flowers in short racemes, the stalk prickly, at stem tops and from upper leaf axils (sometimes multiple racemes in a sparsely branched cluster); white to greenish or pink; less than 1/4 in. long; consisting of 5 oval to elliptic tepals.
Fruits: Fruit a broadly oval, brown achene.
Comments:
Height: 2-6 ft.
plant sale text:
bloom table text:
description: Reclining-scrambling annual/perennial of marshes, tidal swamps, floodplain pools and wet thickets.
stems: Stems branched, ridged, the angles with hooked prickles.
leaves: Leaves alternate, petiolate with a prickled and hairy sheath (ocrea) where petiole joins stem, triangular with flaring basal lobes and sharp-pointed tip, 1-7 in. long, sparsely hairy above and with star-shaped hairs beneath.
inflorescence:
flowers: Flowers in short racemes, the stalk prickly, at stem tops and from upper leaf axils (sometimes multiple racemes in a sparsely branched cluster); white to greenish or pink; less than 1/4 in. long; consisting of 5 oval to elliptic tepals.
fruits: Fruit a broadly oval, brown achene.
comments:
cultural notes:
germination code:
native range:
0 unsaved edits on this page.