Biological Name:
Ladysthumb: Polygonum persicaria
Natural Habitat:
Ladysthumb: The natural habitat for ladysthumb is damp, disturbed areas such as fields, gardens, and waste places. It is native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, but has been introduced to North America, where it is now widespread.
Description:
Ladysthumb is a herbaceous annual plant that is native to Europe and Asia. It has small, pink or white flowers and long, narrow leaves that are marked with a dark, thumb-like spot. It is often found in agricultural fields and is a common weed.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: Is lady’s thumb edible?
A: Edible Parts The leaves, young shoots, flowers and seeds are edible. Lady’s thumb contains natural fibers, sugars, fats and tannins. They also contain high amounts of phenolic acids.
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Q: How many parts of lady finger are edible?
A: Final answer: Lady’s finger and Brinjal have two or more edible parts.
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Q: Which part of lady finger is edible?
A: As food – The leaves, flower buds and flowers can be cooked and eaten. Leaves are also eaten raw in salads or dried, ground into powder and used as a flavouring. Cooked leaves are also used as a soup thickener.
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Q: What does Lady’s thumb taste like?
A: The leaves, stems, and flowers from Lady’s Thumb can be eaten either raw or cooked. This wild edible has a taste that resembles lettuce. The seeds from young plants are also edible. When harvested in September in the fall Lady’s Thumb will sometimes be more tough and not be as flavorful.
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Q: Is Oriental ladys thumb toxic?
A: Lady’s thumb is edible. The flowers, young shoots and leaves can be used in salads, while the leaves may be cooked like other greens.
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Q: Are lady’s thumb invasive?
A: Facts. Oriental lady’s-thumb smartweed is an invasive annual of wet disturbed areas, where it can form large stands.
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Q: What is the most invasive vine?
A: Kudzu grows out of control quickly, spreading through runners (stems that root at the tip when in contact with moist soil), rhizomes and by vines that root at the nodes to form new plants. Once established, kudzu grows at a rate of one foot per day with mature vines as long as 100 feet.
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Q: Is Lady Finger edible plant?
A: Lady Finger Okra also known as the lady’s finger is a flowering plant with edible seed pods. Okra is primarily used as a vegetable. It is sometimes also used in soups and stews.
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Q: Does lady’s thumb bloom?
A: The blooming period can occur from late spring to early fall; a colony of plants will typically bloom for 1-2 months during the summer. There is no noticeable floral scent. Each flower is replaced by a seed that ovoid, flattened or slightly 3-angled, black, and shiny. The shallow root system doesn’t produce rhizomes.
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Q: What is smartweed good for?
A: Smartweed is an herb. The above-ground parts are used to make medicine. People use smartweed for diarrhea, to stop bleeding, for the common cold, and other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.
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Q: Why is it called smartweed?
A: The plants are called smartweed because they have a sharp, peppery flavor and their plant juice makes one’s eyes run. The leaves are at least an inch in length although in a few cases they’re much larger.
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Q: Can I eat smartweed?
A: Mature leaves and stems chopped up and used sparingly as pepper, leaves and stems boils in soups, again sparingly. Numerous herbal applications. The roots of some species are edible cooked, some require a little cooking, others require much cooking. The seeds of some are also edible.
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Q: What animal eats smartweed?
A: This plant is an excellent wildlife food plant, especially for waterfowl. Twenty species of ducks, geese, bobwhites, mourning doves, ring-necked pheasants, and four species of rails, as well as 30 nongame birds, eat the seeds. Dense stands provide cover for young waterfowl, marsh birds, and wintering pheasants.
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Q: Should I pull smartweed?
A: Some annual Smartweeds are easily controlled by pulling the weeds out after misting the soil lightly. For the perennial Knotweeds, persistence is needed to mechanically remove the crown and roots in established plants — it is best to pull them when they emerge.
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Q: What is difference between smartweed and knotweed?
A: Smartweeds are much smaller than the non-native knotweeds and only grow a few feet tall. They have more flimsy stems and do not grow to be large shrubs.
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Q: Where is smartweed found?
A: Smartweed can be found in marshes, swamps, wet forests, and ditches.
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Q: What is lady’s thumb good for?
A: Lady’s Thumb is a medicinal plant. Native Americans used the leaves in treatments of stomach pains and poison ivy. They also rubbed the plant on their horses as an insect repellant. Lady’s Thumb, along with various species of Smartweed are a part of the buckwheat family.
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Q: Why is it called ladys thumb?
A: History and Comments: Lady’s Thumb is native to Europe. It is unclear how it reached the United States, but it probably invaded before 1850. Lady’s Thumb is so called, because of the dark green splotch on the leaf, which supposedly resembles a lady’s thumb.
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Q: Where does lady’s thumb grow?
A: Spotted lady’s thumb is non-native to North America and should not be promoted. This plant can be found in marshes, ponds, lakes and streams.
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Q: Is polygonaceae edible?
A: PolygonaceaeKingdom:PlantaeClade:TracheophytesClade:AngiospermsClade:Eudicots
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Q: Is smartweed edible?
A: Mature leaves and stems chopped up and used sparingly as pepper, leaves and stems boils in soups, again sparingly. Numerous herbal applications. The roots of some species are edible cooked, some require a little cooking, others require much cooking. The seeds of some are also edible.
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