The Flora of Castlewarden

Latin:  Persicaria maculosa

Irish:  Glúineach dhearg

 

This is a native annual that may grow upright or remain prostrate.  One of its most distinctive features is its leaves which are spear-shaped and with a dark blotch on the upper surface.  It comes from the Polygonaceae family – a family that also includes rhubarb (Rheum).  It produces small, pink flowers in compact spikes from June onwards.

It is a troublesome weed of arable fields but can also be abundant along roadsides and in damp waste places.

 

Specimens were recorded in an area of bare ground on the mound beside the spinney by the pump at the 13^th green and in a recently excavated section of the large mound in the practice area.