Polygonum aviculare L.

Spice Detail

Family: POLYGONACEAE

Genus: Polygonum

Catalan common name: Centinòdia. Corretjola. Herba de cent nussos. Passacamins. Trava-bous.

Spanish common name: Centinodia. Ciennudos. Corregüela de los caminos. Hierba nudosa. Lengua de pájaro. Sanguinaria.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Lleida. Tarragona. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Menorca. Ibiza. Formentera. Cabrera.

Uses and properties: Medicinal.

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Terophyte.

Habitat: Cultivated fields, path and road sides, disturbed zones.

Characteristics: This is a herb which forms long stems than stretch out along the ground. The leaves are small and lanceolate, at the base of each one there is a kind of membranous piece wrapped round the stem (the ochrea). The flowers appear in the axils of the upper stem leaves, they have white or pinkish petals. It grows in dry fields and along path-sides. There are three subspecies in the Balearic Islands (subsp. bellardii; subsp. microspermum; i subsp aviculare).