Persicaria setacea (Baldwin) Small

Persicaria setacea (Baldwin) Small View in CoL [ Polygonaceae ]

Persicaria setacea is reported as new to the Indiana portion of the Flora of the Southeastern United States coverage area based on collections made in 2020 (Jefferson County) by Scott Namestnik, Roger Hedge and Joe Robb and in 2021 (Ripley County) by Scott Namestnik, Joe Robb, Dan Boone and Joe Bens. In these two adjacent counties, P. setacea was observed growing in mudflats, in wetlands and along drainages associated with beaver activity.

This smartweed with spreading-hirsute pubescence on the ocreae is found throughout the eastern United States, with the greatest concentration within its distribution along the Atlantic coastal plain in the southeastern United States and in peninsular Florida; it extends west into Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri and north to New York and Massachusetts ( Kartesz 2015; Weakley & Southeastern Flora Team 2022a). Persicaria setacea is considered globally secure (G5) and secure in the United States (N5); its subnational conservation status ranks have not been calculated in most of the states in which it occurs, but where calculated it is secure (S5) in North Carolina, apparently secure (S4) in Virginia, vulnerable (S3S4) in Kentucky, imperiled (S2) in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, and critically imperiled in Indiana (S1), New York (S1S2), and Ohio (S1) ( NatureServe 2023 [as Polygonum setaceum ]). In Indiana, there are historical collections from two northern counties ( Consortium of Midwest Herbaria 2023), and the species is currently tracked as state endangered on the list of Endangered, Threatened, and Extirpated Plants of Indiana (IDNR 2022), but the collections documented here may represent the only currently extant populations of P.setacea in the state.

Voucher Specimens: INDIANA. Jefferson Co.: Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge, along edge of drainage between beaver ponds, associated species: Agalinis tenuifolia , Agrimonia parviflora , Bidens polylepis , Carex lurida , Coleataenia rigidula , Echinochloa muricata , Eupatorium serotinum , Juncus acuminatus , Juncus effusus , Juncus tenuis , Leersia oryzoides , Ludwigia palustris , Mimulus ringens , Persicaria punctata , Platanus occidentalis , Sagittaria australis , Scirpus atrovirens , Scirpus cyperinus , Solidago rugosa , 38.85238, –85.40543, 26 Aug 2020, S. Namestnik, R. Hedge & J. Robb 4542 (NY). Ripley Co.: Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge, dense colony and scattered individuals in older mudflat created by beaver dam, associated species: Boehmeria cylindrica var. drummondiana , Carex lupulina , Cephalanthus occidentalis , Coleataenia rigidula , Eleocharis obtusa , Galium tinctorium , Leersia oryzoides , Ludwigia palustris , Mimulus ringens , Onoclea sensibilis , Persicaria punctata , Persicaria sagittata , Salix nigra , Scirpus cyperinus , Vitis labrusca , 38.93076, –85.38869, 5Aug 2021, S.Namestnik, J.Robb, D. Boone & J.Bens 5102 (BUT,IND).