Field Guide to Noxious and Other Selected Weeds of British Columbia
Japanese Knotweed
(a.k.a. Japanese bamboo, Mexican bamboo)
(Polygonum cuspidatum)
Creamy-white flower cluster |
- rhizomatous, semi-woody, herbaceous perennial in the Buckwheat
Family that grows to 3 metres in height; "bamboo-like"
stems are green to reddish brown and spotted; leaves are
egg-shaped, stalked, 10 to 15 cm long, flattened or rounded at the
base with a pointed tip and are dark green above and lighter green
below; greenish to creamy-white flowers are produced in clusters
from the leaf axils.
- an escaped ornamental originating from eastern Asia, Japanese
knotweed forms aggressive, dense thickets maintained by extensive
and deep, creeping rhizomes. New shoots are known to
penetrate thick asphalt
|
"Bamboo-like" stems with purple spots |
Dense thickets exclude other vegetation
More information on Japanese knotweed
Return to Field Guide to Noxious and Other Selected Weeds of BC
