Common Name: Pennsylvania smartweed, pinkweed, pink knotweedScientific Name: Polygonum pensylvanicum L. syn. Persicaria pensylvanicaFamily Name: Polygonaceae - Smartweed or Buckwheat FamilyIdentification NotesLife Cyclenative annual, reproducing by seed Stemsupright, smooth, branching, swollen nodes, ocrea (papery or membranous sheath) at nodes Leavesalternate, lanceolate to elliptic, tip pointed and roundish base, hairless, frequently with purple blotch, short petiole Flowers bright pink to rose sometimes white, petals absent; clusters form short terminal spike