Swamp Smartweed
Persicaria hydropiperoides
Found in swamp forests, streams, ditches. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
78
Strong
Native to Mississippi (estimated). How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 2–3 feet
- Light
- Sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to standing water
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- May to November
- Fruiting season
- Spring to summer
JFMAMJJASOND
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 41 Mississippi counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 3
Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Mississippi. Shared habitat, not food. 80 animals.
Widespread birds also seen here (31)
Found in many habitats here, so not listed above.
- American Crow
- American Goldfinch
- American Kestrel
- American Robin
- Belted Kingfisher
- Black-crowned Night-heron
- Chimney Swift
- Common Grackle
- Common Nighthawk
- Common Yellowthroat
- Cooper's Hawk
- Eastern Kingbird
- Eastern Screech-owl
- Eastern Towhee
- European Starling
- Fish Crow
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Great Horned Owl
- Hooded Merganser
- Mourning Dove
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Flicker
- Northern Mockingbird
- Osprey
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Turkey Vulture
- Yellow-breasted Chat
- Yellow-crowned Night-heron
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
42CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including MS
Genus host records with ranges including MS · Polygonum
- Achyra rantalisGarden Webworm Moth
- Acronicta insularisHenry's Marsh Moth, Cattail Caterpillar
- Acronicta oblinitaSmeared Dagger
- Anticlea multiferataMany-Lined Carpet
- Apantesis argeArge Tiger Moth
- Apantesis naisNais Tiger Moth
- Archips semiferanusOak Leafroller Moth
- Calothysanis amaturariaCross-Lined Wave
- Chionodes discoocellellaEyeringed Chionodes
- Coleophora cratipennellaStreaked Coleophora
Show all 42
- Costaconvexa centrostrigariaBent-Lined Carpet
- Dypterygia rozmaniAmerican Bird's-Wing
- Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
- Emmelina monodactylaMorning-Glory Plume Moth
- Epiblema otiosanaBidens Borer Moth
- Eusarca confusariaConfused Eusarca
- Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
- Haematopis gratariaChickweed Geometer
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Homophoberia apicosaBlack Wedge-Spot, Smartweed Groundling
- Hyles lineataWhite-Lined Sphinx
- Hypena scabraGreen Cloverworm Bomolocha, Black Snout
- Maliattha synochitisBlack-Dotted Lithacodia, Black-Dotted Glyph, Brass-Dotted Grass Moth
- Melanolophia canadariaCanadian Melanolphia, Variable Redmarked Looper
- Metarranthis duariaRuddy Metarranthis
- Nephelodes miniansBronzed Cutworm
- Nomophila nearcticaLucerne Moth, American Celery Webworm
- Orthonama obstipataThe Gem
- Ostrinia obumbratalisSmartweed Borer
- Ostrinia penitalisAmerican Lotus Borer, Lily Moth
- Parapoynx obscuralisObscure Pondweed Moth
- Patania silicalisHerbivorous Patania, Herbivorous Pleuroptya
- Prochoerodes lineolaLarge Maple Spanworm Moth
- Pseudeustrotia carneolaPink-Barred Lithacodia, Pink-Barred Pseudeustrotia
- Saucrobotys futilalisDogbane Saucrobotys
- Schinia scissoidesDivided Flower Moth
- Schinia spinosaeSpinose Flower Moth
- Scopula limboundataLarge Lace-Border
- Spilosoma congruaAgreeable Tiger Moth
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
- Tharsalea hyllusBronze Copper
34BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Persicaria
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
14BirdsRecorded eating Persicaria in Mississippi
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Birds whose range includes Mississippi, most records first.
- SoraSeeds. 12 diet records
- Red-winged BlackbirdSeeds. 4 diet records
- American CootSeeds. 2 diet records
- Northern CardinalOther parts. 2 diet records
- Ring-necked DuckSeeds. 2 diet records
- American Pipit1 diet record
- American RobinFruit. 1 diet record
- American Wigeon1 diet record
- Blue-winged Teal1 diet record
- GadwallSeeds. 1 diet record
Show all 14
- Lapland Longspur1 diet record
- Lesser ScaupSeeds. 1 diet record
- MallardSeeds. 1 diet record
- Swainson's ThrushFruit and seeds. 1 diet record
Direct food only. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Beetles 2
- Coccinella 9-notata
- Disonycha limbicollis
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Flies 9
- Archytas analis
- Chaetogaedia analis
- Eristalis bastardi
- Eristalis flavipes
- Helicobia 4-setosa
- Phormia regina
- Sarcophaga hunteri
- Systoechus vulgaris
- Tropidia quadrata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 21
- Ammobia ichneumonea
- Anacrabro ocellatus
- Astatus unicolor
- Cerceris fumipennis
- Cerceris kennicottii
- Ceropales fraterna
- Chrysis texana
- Eucerceris zonatus
- Isodontia apicalis
- Leionotus arvensis
Show all 21
- Leionotus dorsalis
- Oxybelus 4-notatus
- Philanthus punctatus
- Philanthus ventilabris
- Poecilopompilus interruptus
- Polistes pallipes
- Polistes variatus
- Priononyx atrata
- Priononyx thomae
- Pseudoplisus phaleratus
- Tiphia clypeata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants · Adult butterflies / moths · Other insects
Birds that eat Persicaria 14
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.
- SoraPorzana carolina
- Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
- American CootFulica americana
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
- American PipitAnthus rubescens
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- American WigeonAnas americana
- Blue-winged TealAnas discors
- GadwallAnas strepera
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
- Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Swainson's ThrushCatharus ustulatus
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Polygonaceae
- Flower color
- Green
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth habit
- Single crown
- Foliage color
- Dark green
- Fruit begins
- Spring
- Fruit ends
- Summer
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to November” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Foliage color · “Dark green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Single crown” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Slow” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Height · “2–3 feet” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Sun” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Water; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Polygonum hydropiperoides; knotweed
Conservation status
| Mississippi rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| MS status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
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Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Mississippi occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications