Polygonum orientale L.
princess' feather
Hairy, fibrous-rooted annual with erect stems 20-150-(250) cm tall. Lvs on main stem similar to those on branches; petiole to c. 10 cm long, densely hispid. Lamina 7-25 × 4-17 cm, ovate, entire, with margin and veins densely hispid above and below, otherwise hairs sparser; base rounded to cordate, broadly cuneate on infl. lvs; apex cuspidate. Ochreae c. 2 cm long on main part of stem, green, with apical lobes prominently setose. Infl. a large open panicle with densely hairy branches terminating in dense pendulous spikes (1)-3-8 cm long; pedicels to 5 mm long, enclosed by bracts until anthesis; bracts 4-6 mm long, scarious, with appressed hairs, densely ciliate. Perianth 3-5 mm long, crimson in bud, somewhat paler at anthesis, accrescent, eglandular; segments broad-ovate to broad-elliptic, imbricate. Nut c. 4 mm long, broad-ovoid and ± biconvex, glossy black, with a shallow depression in the middle on each side.
N.: Bay of Plenty (Opotiki area), northern Hawke's Bay, Waikato (Kiwitahi), Palmerston North; S.: Nelson, Canterbury (Lincoln).
Tropical Asia 1935
Waste land, coastal reclamation ground, gardens.
FL Feb-Mar.
P. orientale seeds very prolifically in gardens and is a sporadic escape from cultivation. Princess' feather is accepted here as the common name of this attractive ornamental sp. The name prince's feather is also used sometimes, but this is also used for a common upright, crimson form of Amaranthus hybridus.
