Polygonum tataricum Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 364. 1753.

Herbs annual. Stems erect, green, 30-70(-100) cm tall, branched, striate, papillate. Petioles ca. as long as blade; leaf blade broadly triangular, 2-7 × 2-8 cm, both surfaces papillate along veins, base cordate or truncate, margin entire, apex acute; ocrea brown, ca. 5 mm, membranous, oblique. Inflorescence terminal or axillary, racemose, several racemes together paniculate, lax; bracts ovate, 2-3 mm, apex acute, each 2-4-flowered. Pedicel 3-4 mm, articulate at middle. Perianth white or greenish; tepals elliptic, ca. 2 mm. Stamens included. Stigmas capitate. Achenes much exceeding persistent perianth, black-brown, narrowly ovoid, trigonous, 5-6 mm, surfaces grooved; angles rounded below middle, sharply acute above, sometimes sinuate-dentate along angles. Fl. May-Sep, fr. Jun-Oct. 2n = 16*.

Wild or cultivated in mountainous regions; 400-3900 m. Gansu, ?Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Hunan, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [Afghanistan, Bhutan (cultivated), India, Kazakhstan (introduced), Kyrgyzstan (introduced), Mongolia, Myanmar (cultivated), Nepal, Russia (Far East, introduced), Sikkim (cultivated), Tajikistan (introduced); cultivated in Europe and North America].