Alpine Bistort

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Alpine Bistort
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Caryophyllales Family: Polygonaceae Genus: Polygonum
Binomial name
Polygonum viviparum L.
Synonyms
Persicaria vivipara Bistorta vivipara

Alpine Bistort (syn. Polygonum viviparum, Persicaria vivipara) is common all over the high Arctic. It stretches further south in high mountainous areas like the Alps, Carpathians, Pyrenees, Caucasus and the Tibetan Plateau.

It grows to 5-15 cm tall with a thick rootstock. The basal leaves are longish-elliptical with long stalks; upper ones are linear and stalkless. The flowers are white or pink in the upper part of the spike; lower ones are replaced by bulbils. Flowers rarely produce viable seeds and reproduction is normally by the bulbils. Very often a small leaf develops when the bulbil is still attached to the mother plant. The bulbils are rich in starch and are a preferred food for Ptarmigan^[1] and Reindeer; they are also occasionally used by Arctic people.

Alpine Bistort grows in many different plant communities, very often in abundance.

As with many other alpine plants, Alpine Bistort is slow growing, with an individual leaf or inflorescence taking 3-4 years to reach maturity from the time it is formed.^[2]

[edit] See also

• Flora of Svalbard

[edit] References

1. ^ Moss R, Parkinson JA (1975 Mar). "The digestion of bulbils (Polygonum viviparum L.) and berries (Vaccinium myrtillus L. and Empetrum sp.) by captive ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus)". Br J Nutr. 33 (2): 197–206. doi:10.1079/BJN19750024. 
2. ^ Pamela K. Diggle (1997). "Extreme preformation in alpine Polygonum vivparum: an architectural and developmental analysis". Am. J. Bot. 84 (2): 154–169. doi:10.2307/2446077.