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The Common knotweed (Polygonum arenastrum) belongs to Polygonaceae (the Knotweed family). It is an annual herb that is distributed throughout Europe, western Asia, northern Eurasia, northwestern Africa, and Macaronesia. It is now naturalized in Japan and North America. It grows mainly in wastelands and along roadsides in temperate regions. The stem is about 50 cm long, dividing at the base, and spreads out in a radial pattern. The leaves are bluish green, oblong to lanceolate, and 5 to 20 mm long. The base of the leaf has a membranous stipule sheathing stalk with two deeply parted lobes. The tepals are green with white to pale red margins. The fruit is an achene, which grows to a large size and ripens and falls off while still wrapped in the perianth. In Chinese, it is called "伏地萹蓄" (fu di bian xu).
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