Polygonum aviculare
Ecology
An annual of open and disturbed ground, including arable land, gardens, waste places and seashores. The species remains a significant agricultural weed. 0-550 m (Northumberland), with an exceptional record at 670 m on Great Dun Fell (Westmorland).
Status
Trends
P. aviculare was mapped with other members of the aggregate in the 1962 Atlas, but it is most unlikely that there have been any changes in distribution. It is under-recorded in areas where the segregates of P. aviculare have not been distinguished. Almost all records from Shetland are now referred to P. boreale.
World Distribution
Circumpolar Wide-temperate element; widely naturalised outside its native range.
Broad Habitats
Light (Ellenberg): 7
Moisture (Ellenberg): 5
Reaction (Ellenberg): 6
Nitrogen (Ellenberg): 7
Salt Tolerance (Ellenberg): 0
January Mean Temperature (Celsius): 3.7
July Mean Temperature (Celsius): 14.8
Annual Precipitation (mm): 1039
Height (cm): 30
Perennation - primary
Life Form - primary
Woodiness
Clonality - primary
Count of 10km squares in Great Britain: 2030
Count of 10km squares in Ireland: 819
Count of 10km squares in the Channel Isles: 2
JNCC Designations
Atlas text references
1981. Docks and knotweeds of the British Isles. Botanical Society of the British Isles Handbook no. 3.
.
1962. The taxonomy of Polygonum aviculare and its allies in Britain. Watsonia. 5:177-214.