Was at Lime Hollow a few weeks ago and came across an unfamiliar smartweed growing next to a gravel path. This one had winged petioles, something I don’t usually associate with plants in the genus Polygonum. I snapped a picture hoping I could figure out the species based on this feature
But no luck figure this one out…until a few days ago I was out at Kettle Bail State Forest and found what appeared to be the same plant growing along the edge of a truck trail. This one had flowers on it and I was able to key it out – Polygonum napalense, or Napalese Smartweed, is a native of China known only from Sullivan, Delaware, and Otsego counties in NY. Assuming I have the identify correct on this one it is now known from multiple locations in Cortland County, .
