Poovallikodi / Chinese Knot Weed
Persicaria chinensis
- Habit
- Shrub
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Poovallikodi
Identify Poovallikodi by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a shrub habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Small clustered flower heads.
- Confirm leaf shape: Cordate.
- Confirm flower arrangement: Cyme.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Polygonaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Poovallikodi.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Persicaria chinensis
- Genus
- Persicaria
- Family
- Polygonaceae
- Habit
- Shrub
- Habitat
- Evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- Indo-Malaysia, China
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Assam, Sikkim, West Bengal, Mizoram, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- CordaterecordedHeart-shaped, with a notch at the base.“Its leaves have oval blades, are 4–8 cm long and 3–5 cm wide, with pointed apex and round or nearly cordate base.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Poovallikodi itself; the rest are typical of the Polygonaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower arrangement
- CymerecordedA branched cluster where the central/terminal flower opens first.“Its cymes emerge at terminals, and are 5–7 cm long, with small white or pink flowers.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Spike
- Fruit
- Achene
Characters marked “recorded” are for Poovallikodi itself; the rest are typical of the Polygonaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Kannada
- ಸೋರಲೆ Sorale
- Malayalam
- Poovallikodi, Mudanthi, Oduthan
- Marathi
- परल Paral
About Poovallikodi
Chinese Knot Weed (Persicaria chinensis) is a shrub in the Polygonaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and 14 other states. It grows in evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Polygonaceae
Buckwheat/Knotweed family
Poovallikodi belongs to the Polygonaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Polygonaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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