Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Persicaria chinensis

Edible: Leaves, Seeds, Leaves - tea, Flowers, Fruit

A herb. It is a straggling perennial weed often woody near the base and up to 2-3 m tall. It can be a climber. Branches are ridged and grooved. Leaves are alternate and have stalks. The leaves are 2.5-14 cm long by 1.3-8 cm wide. They are oblong to sword shaped. They taper to the tip. They are hairy on the mid vein underneath. The base is cut off. Flowers are at the top and are white or pink. A black berry-like fruit develops with a 3 sided shape.

A tropical and subtropical plant. In Nepal it grows between 700-2200 m altitude. It grows in moist, open places. It grows in wetlands. It occurs in natural forest clearings and in abandoned gardens. It is mostly between 1000 m and 2500 m altitude. It occurs in the Western Ghats in India. In XTBG Yunnan.

Common Names: Chinese knotweed, Creeping smartweed, Ameta, Angom-yensil, Bai fan teng, Bai-vu, Bakhre thotne, Behu, Beng gen, Besongali, Bilichini, Boktaung, Chorakam, Delap, Duoi tom, Ganigalu, Gelaiche, Heganturia, Ja-lynnong, Jampera, Kaker bantabhat, Kakka karumbu, Kakur thotne, Kelnap, Kolemukku dagu, Kuki, Kukur thotne, Kundyut-pam, La lom, Lorum, Lymbeh, Madhu soleng, Madhuri tenga, Maha-gar-kyan-sit, Maikhri thai, Mekri donok, Modhu soleng, Mohicharan sak, Narali, Obei-o kati, Obiovu, Okhi morokpo, Okung, Paral, Phiahapa, Pokok semuloh, Ratnaulo, Qaub yag, Ta-ham, Theidon, Thom lom, Wetkyein, Yerumai naakku chedi

Synonyms: 

Polygonum chinense L.;
Ampelygonum chinense (L.) Lindley;
Coccoloba crispata Buch.-Ham. ex Roxb.;
Polygonum auriculatum Lam.;
Polygonum brachiatum Lam.;
Polygonum patens D.Don;