Dock Family:-

"Bistorts, Persicarias and Buckwheat:-

are an undistinguished genus of generally hairless plants, with stems more or less swollen at the junctions of the alternate undivided leaves, at the base of which are whitish or papery sheaths. Flowers small, pink or whitish, mostly in terminal heads. Fruit a nut." from Collins Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers by David McClintock and R.S.R. Fitter assisted by Francis Rose - ISBN 0 00 219363 9 - Eleventh Impression 1978

Dock Family plant table with its Common Name - Botanical Name. Flowering Months Range. Habitat with link to that Wild Flower Gallery:-

Common Name

Botanical Name

Flowering Months

Habitat

Alpine Bistort

Polygonum viviparum

(Persicaria vivipara)

June-August

A short, tufted perennial herb, usually found on base-rich substrates and less frequently in acidic conditions. It grows on wet rocks, consolidated screes, in grassland and in damp flushes in the mountains, and it is often abundant in montane pastures. Reproduction is mostly by bulbils at the base of the inflorescence, frequently carried down to lower levels by streams. It reaches 1210 m on Ben Lawers (Mid Perth), but descends to near sea level in N. Scotland.

Flower from Kishorn in Ross on 28 June

Flowers from Kishorn in Ross on 28 June

Foliage from Kishorn in Ross on 28 June

Form from Kishorn in Ross on 28 June

Amphibious Bistort

Polygonum amphibia

(Persicaria amphibia)

July-September

A floating aquatic perennial herb, which sometimes grows in considerable quantity in lakes, ponds, canals, slow-flowing rivers and ditches, or a terrestrial plant found in damp places on watersides, in marshes, wet meadows and dune-slacks, and as a weed of cultivated land. Reproduction is by seed and fragments of rhizome; terrestrial plants are much less floriferous than aquatic ones. 0-570 m (Blind Tarn, Westmorland).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage from Norfolk Broads. Photo from BritishFlora

Form from Norfolk Broads. Photo from BritishFlora

Bistort

(Common Bistort)

Polygonum bistorta

(Persicaria bistorta)

June-August

A perennial herb of base-poor soils in damp pastures, hay meadows and river-banks, in tall-herb communities in river valleys and on mountain ledges and roadsides. Many colonies originate as garden escapes or throw-outs. 0-430 m above Garrigill (Cumberland).

Flower in July

Flowers from Snake Root Brough in Westmoreland on 1 June

Foliage from Snake Root Brough on 1 June

Form from Snake Root Brough on 1 June

Black Bindweed

Polygonum convolvulus

(Fallopia convolvulus)

July onwards

An annual found in arable land, gardens, waste places, rubbish tips and on roadsides. 0-450 m (Clun Forest, Salop).

Flower from Rochester in Kent in October

Flowers

Foliage from Rochester in October

Form

Buckwheat

Fagopyrum esculentum

(Polygonum fagopyrum)

July-September

An annual appearing erratically on waste ground, rubbish tips, field margins and in woodland rides. It rarely persists long at any one site. Lowland.

Flower from Tonbridge in Kent on 11 July

Flowers from Tonbridge on 11 July

Foliage from Tonbridge on 11 July

Form from Tonbridge on 11 July

Copse Bindweed

Polygonum dumetorum

(Fallopia dumetorum)

July onwards

A climbing annual of hedges, thickets and wood-borders on well-drained soils. Erratic in appearance, it sometimes occurs in quantity following the felling, thinning or coppicing of hedgerows and woodland. Lowland.

Giant Knotweed

Polygonum sachalinense

(Fallopia sachalinensis)

August-September

This robust rhizomatous perennial herb forms extensive thickets on waste ground, roadsides, river banks and lake and sea-loch shores. Generally lowland, but upper altitudinal limit unknown.

In the UK, it is an offence under section 14(2) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to "plant or otherwise cause to grow in the wild" any plant listed in Schedule 9, Part II to the Act, which includes Japanese knotweed. Over £150m is spent annually on Japanese knotweed control, and a decision was taken on 9 March 2010 in the UK to release into the wild a Japanese psyllid insect, Aphalara itadori. Its diet is highly specific to Japanese knotweed and shows good potential for its control.

Section 14 of the Act:-

14 Introduction of new species etc.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this part, if any person releases or allows to escape into the wild any animal which --

• (a) is of a kind which is not ordinarily resident in and is not a regular visitor to Great Britain in a wild state; or
• (b) is included in Part I of Schedule 9,
• he shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this part, if any person plants or otherwise causes to grow in the wild any plant which is included in Part II of Schedule 9, he shall be guilty of an offence.

Part II of Schedule 9

Plants

Common Name

Scientific Name

In Section 21:-

A person guilty of an offence under section 14 shall be liable --

(a) on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeeding six months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both;

(b) on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine, or to both.

• Alexanders, Perfoliate
• Algae, Red
• Archangel, Variegated Yellow
•  
• Azalea, Yellow
• Balsam, Himalayan
• Cotoneaster
• Cotoneaster, Entire-leaved
• Cotoneaster, Himalayan
• Cotoneaster, Hollyberry
• Cotoneaster, Small-leaved
• Creeper, False Virginia
• Creeper, Virginia
• Dewplant, Purple
• Fanwort (Carolina Water-shield)
• Fern, Water
• Fig, Hottentot
• Garlic, Three-cornered
• Hogweed, Giant
• Hyacinth, Water
• Kelp, Giant
• Kelp, Giant
• Kelp, Giant
• Kelp, Giant
• Kelp, Japanese
• Knotweed, Giant
• Knotweed, Hybrid
•  
• Knotweed, Japanese
• Leek, Few-flowered
• Lettuce, Water
• Montbretia
• Parrot's-feather
• Pennywort, Floating
• Potato, Duck
• Primrose, Floating Water
• Primrose, Water
• Primrose, Water
• Rhododendron
• Rhododendron
•  
• Rhubarb, Giant
• Rose, Japanese
• Salvinia, Giant
• Seafingers, Green
• Seaweed, Californian Red
• Seaweed Hooked Asparagus
• Seaweed, Japanese
• Seaweeds, Laver (Except native species)
•  
• Stonecrop, Australian Swamp
• Wakame
• Waterweed, Curly
• Waterweeds

• Smyrnium perfoliatum
• Grateloupia luxurians
• Lamiastrum galeobdolon subsp. argentatum
• Rhododendron luteum
• Impatiens glandulifera
• Cotoneaster horizontalis
• Cotoneaster integrifolius
• Cotoneaster simonsii
• Cotoneaster bullatus
• Cotoneaster microphyllus
• Parthenocissus inserta
• Parthenocissus quinquefolia
• Disphyma crassifolium
• Cabomba caroliniana
• Azolla filiculoides
• Carpobrotus edulis
• Allium triquetrum
• Heracleum mantegazzianum
• Eichomia crassipes
• Macrocystis angustifolia
• Macrocystis integrifolia
• Macrocystis laevis
• Macrocystis pyrifera
• Laminaria japonica
• Fallopia sachalinensis
• Fallopia japonica x Fallopia sachalinensis
• Fallopia japonica
• Allium paradoxum
• Pistia stratiotes
• Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora
• Myriophyllum aquaticum
• Hydrocotyle ranunculoides
• Sagittaria latifolia
• Ludwigia peploides
• Ludwigia grandiflora
• Ludwigia uruguayensis
• Rhododendron ponticum
• Rhododendron ponticum x Rhododendron maximum
• Gunnera tinctoria
• Rosa rugosa
• Salvia molesta
• Codium fragile
• Pikea californica
• Asparagopsis armata
• Sargassum muticum
• Porphyra spp
• except:-
• Porphyra amethystea
• Porphyra leucosticta
• Porphyra linearis
• Porphyra miniata
• Porphyra purpurea
• Porphyra umbilicalis
• Crassula helmsii
• Undaria pinnatifida
• Lagarosiphon major
• All species of the genus Elodea

If you destroy every plant on your property ( Hottentot Fig is an ideal low-maintenance groundcover plant, Water Hyacinth is used for wastewater purification ), concrete over any ground and spray that concrete with herbicide every 2 weeks, that will ensure that your friendly goverment cannot convict you of a crime that you knew nothing about.

Section 14 (3) Subject to subsection (4), it shall be a defence to a charge of committing an offence under subsection (1) or (2) to prove that the accused took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence.

Section 14 (4) Where the defence provided by subsection (3) involves an allegation that the commission of the offence was due to the act or default of another person, the person charged shall not, without leave of the court, be entitled to rely on the defence unless, within a period ending seven clear days before the hearing, he has served on the prosecutor a notice giving such information identifying or assisting in the identification of the other person as was then in his possession.

The above 2 sections do mean that if the gardener has caused the offence perhaps by cutting off the rhododendron branch which drops outside the owners property and it starts to grow, or the gardener has failed to stop the seed from being blown out of the garden which has then germinated and grown, then the gardener will go to jail for between 6 months and 2 years.

Section 14A (2) Subject to the provisions of this Part, any person who—

(a) sells, offers or exposes for sale or has in the person’s possession or transports for the purpose of sale any animal or plant to which this section applies; or

(b) publishes or causes to be published any advertisement likely to be understood as conveying that the person buys or sells, or intends to buy or sell, any such animal or plant,

is guilty of an offence.

A lovely catch-all phrase, so that if any of these plants are in your possession, then you are guilty of an offence and you do not collect £200 as you move round the board to go to jail. This is one way that the government can immediately send to jail the nurserymen that grow and sell the above plants to the UK public, locate who were sold them and send them to jail as well. I wonder how many more Acts of Parliament which none of the public know anything about would indicate that the UK public is breaking the law.

Click on the Link to ID sheet on bottom left corner of the Japanese Rose, Rosa rugosa to find that DEFRA of the UK government have decided that this plant is in Schedule 9. Rosa rugosa has been used as the rootstock of roses bred in the UK. So if the roots of your roses travel underground to meet the wild outside, you could be committing an offence.

Japanese Knotweed

Polygonum cuspidatum

(Fallopia japonica)

September-October

A persistent rhizomatous perennial forming dense thickets on waste ground, rubbish tips, roadsides, railway banks, along canal, stream and river banks, and on sea-loch shores. Rhizome fragments are dispersed in garden and other rubbish, and by river floods. Lowland. It is sometimes introduced to gardens through potted plants contaminated with this weed)

Flower from Chatham in Kent in October

Flowers

Foliage in September

Form in September

Knotgrass

Polygonum aviculare

June onwards

An annual of open and disturbed ground, including arable land, gardens, waste places and seashores. The species remains a significant agricultural weed. 0-550 m (Northumberland), with an exceptional record at 670 m on Great Dun Fell (Westmorland).

Flower on 6 July

Flowers on 6 July

Foliage from Polhill on 26 July

Form from Shellness in Sheppey on 23 September

Knotted Persicaria

(This is the same as Pale Persicaria below)

Polygonum nodosum

(Persicaria nodosa)(Polygonum Nodosum and Polygonum tomentosum are part of the range of variation of Polygonum lapathifolium)

June onwards

An annual of wet marshy places, winter-flooded ground beside ponds, lakes and ditches, or damp pastures trampled by stock. It is found on a wide range of soils, from nutrient-rich muds in pastures to sandy and gravelly lake shores. 0-315 m (Skeggles Water, Westmorland).

Least Water-pepper

(Small Water-pepper)

Polygonum minus

(Persicaria minor)

July onwards

An annual of wet marshy places, winter-flooded ground beside ponds, lakes and ditches, or damp pastures trampled by stock. It is found on a wide range of soils, from nutrient-rich muds in pastures to sandy and gravelly lake shores. 0-315 m (Skeggles Water, Westmorland).

Pale Persicaria

Polygonum lapathifolium

(Persicaria lapathifolia)

June onwards

An annual of open and disturbed ground on a wide range of soils ranging from sand to clay and peat. It is a poor competitor, found in cultivated fields, on the open margins of lakes, ponds, streams and rivers, and on waste ground. Robust adventive variants have been recorded in waste places and fields treated with wool shoddy. 0-450 m (Clun Forest, Salop).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form from Stratford in London. Photo from BritishFlora

Redleg

(Redshank)

Polygonum persicaria

(Persicaria maculosa)

June onwards

An annual of open ground on a wide range of soils, particularly those which are rich in nutrients. It is found by ponds, lakes, streams and ditches, in waste places, on roadsides and railways, and is sometimes a pestilential weed of cultivated land. Mainly lowland, but ascending to at least 450 m near Garrigill (Cumberland) and in Clun Forest (Salop).

Flower

Flowers in September

Foliage

Form in August

Russian Vine

Polygonum baldschuanicum

(Fallopia baldschuanica)

July onwards

A climbing perennial, with vine-like stems that festoon trees, scrub, hedges and neglected outbuildings. Lowland.

Flower from Lydd on 24 August

Flowers from Lydd on 24 August

Foliage

Form from Lenham in Kent

Sea Knotgrass

Polygonum maritimum

August-September

A prostrate perennial herb of sand, shingle or shell beaches, growing above the limit of the highest tides with other strand-line and foredune plants. Lowland.

Slender Sea Knotgrass

(Ray's Knotgrass)

Polygonum raii

(Polygonum oxyspermum ssp raii)

August-September

A prostrate annual, biennial or short-lived perennial of sand, shingle or shell beaches, sometimes found on other open sandy ground near the sea, usually just above the limit of the highest tides. Lowland.

Small Water-pepper

Polygonum minus

(Persicaria minor)

July onwards

An annual of wet marshy places, winter-flooded ground beside ponds, lakes and ditches, or damp pastures trampled by stock. It is found on a wide range of soils, from nutrient-rich muds in pastures to sandy and gravelly lake shores. 0-315 m (Skeggles Water, Westmorland).

Tasteless Water-pepper

Polygonum mite

(Persicaria mitis)

July onwards

An annual of wet places growing beside ponds, lakes and rivers and in shallow ditches, damp hollows in fields, cattle-trampled places in pasture and abandoned peat cuttings. It grows in nutrient-rich soils, but appears indifferent to soil reaction. Lowland.

Tear-Thumb

(American Tear-thumb)

Polygonum sagittatum

(Persicaria sagittata)

June-September

This sprawling annual has been found naturalised near streams near Castle Cove (S. Kerry) and is also recorded from several other sites where it is usually casual. It is possibly a grain alien. Lowland.

Water-pepper

Polygonum hydropiper

(Persicaria hydropiper)

July onwards

An annual of damp mud on the margins of ponds and lakes, canals, rivers and streams, or shallow depressions such as vehicle tracks and hoof-marks in woodland rides, around field gateways and in wet meadows. It is almost invariably in sites which are waterlogged in winter, often on base-poor soils and sometimes in partial shade. 0-505 m (Llyn Crugnant, Cards.).