Seasonal Wild Flowers

Latin name

Persicaria vivipara 

Other names

Viviparous Bistort

Family

Polygonaceae

Flowering season

June to August

English distribution

It is restricted to the northern Pennines and parts of the

Lake and Peak Districts.

For a map see the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland

– Alpine Bistort

Habitat

It grows on mountains in grassland and wet rocks.

Description

Alpine Bistort is a native, rhizomous, perennial herb

growing up to 30cm, but often much shorter. Those

shown here were about 6cm.

The flowers are numerous on unbranched stems,

forming a tuft.

Individual flowers are up to 4mm across and consist

of 5 white or pale pink tepals.

There are up to 8 stamens with whiye filaments and

bright purple anthers projecting out of the corolla.

There are 3 white styles with capitate globular

stigmas.

Fruits are rarely produced.

Reproduction is mainly by purple bulbils which are

below the

flowers on the tuft. Sometimes the bulbils make up

most of the tuft.

The leaves are linear-lanceolate. The lower are

petiolate and the upper sessile.