Pink Knotweed, Polygonum pensylvanicum, is a medicinal plant of late summer and fall. Although it looks like it’s cousin Lady’s Thumb this particular member of the Polygonum family is not known for it edibility. Medicinally, it was used for epilepsy, hemorrhage of the mouth, postpartum healing and as a hemorrhoid remedy.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry!

Pink Knotweed Sources:

Felter, Harvey Wickes, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D. King’s American Dispensatory, Vol. 2. Cincinnati: The Ohio Valley Company, 1905. pg. 1533-1534

Foster, Steven and James A. Duke. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. 2nd. ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000. Print. pg. 180

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 145

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 424

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 192-193

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.