About Persicaria hydropiperoides (Michx.) Small
Persicaria hydropiperoides has common names including swamp smartweed, mild waterpepper, false waterpepper, and sometimes simply waterpepper. It is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family, with a widespread distribution across most of North America and South America. It prefers moist, saturated to inundated soils, and grows in conditions from full sun to partial shade; common locations include swamp forests, marshes, streams, shorelines, and ditches, and it is sometimes semi-aquatic. This species is quite variable, and is sometimes split into several varieties, some of which may be more appropriately classified as separate distinct species. In general, swamp smartweed is a rhizomatous perennial herb that grows upright or erect, reaching a maximum height of around one meter (40 inches). Roots can grow from nodes on the lower stem. It has bristly, lance-shaped leaves that are roughly 10 centimeters (4 inches) long. Its leaves have sheathing stipules called ochreae. It produces a spike-like inflorescence that holds many pinkish flowers, each around 3 millimeters wide. Swamp smartweed is reported to be edible, like all species in the genus Persicaria. Its close relatives Persicaria hydropiper and Persicaria punctata are known to have a hot, pungent taste when consumed, but at least one author notes that swamp smartweed lacks this pungency.
