Index / Search / Polygonum bistortoides
§1 Plant
Polygonum bistortoides Pursh
vernacular American bistort — species · Polygonaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Dicot
- Family
- Polygonaceae Juss.
- Genus
- Polygonum
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b
County-level range
· 241 counties across 11 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- None
- Shade
- High
- Moisture use
- High
- Fire
- Low
- Salinity
- None
- Anaerobic
- Medium
- CaCO₃
- Low
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -38 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 80 min.
- Precipitation
- 10–30 in/yr
- pH range
- 6.5–8
- Root depth
- 16 in min.
- Fertility need
- Medium
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft
- Foliage texture
- Medium
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Moderate
- Porosity (winter)
- Porous
- Flower colour
- White
- Fruit colour
- Brown
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Seed abundance
- Medium
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Summer
- Spread rate
- Slow
- Stratify
- No
- Seeds / lb
- 125,000
- Propagation
- seed, sprigs
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- No Known Source
- Nursery stock
- No
- Palatable, human
- No
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 241 counties across 11 states/territories.
Arizona view state ↗ 4 N ▾
California view state ↗ 32 N ▾
- Alpine 06003
- Amador 06005
- Butte 06007
- Calaveras 06009
- Colusa 06011
- Del Norte 06015
- El Dorado 06017
- Fresno 06019
- Glenn 06021
- Humboldt 06023
- Kern 06029
- Lake 06033
- Lassen 06035
- Madera 06039
- Marin 06041
- Mariposa 06043
- Mendocino 06045
- Modoc 06049
- Mono 06051
- Nevada 06057
- Placer 06061
- Plumas 06063
- San Bernardino 06071
- Shasta 06089
- Sierra 06091
- Siskiyou 06093
- Solano 06095
- Sonoma 06097
- Tehama 06103
- Trinity 06105
- Tulare 06107
- Tuolumne 06109
Colorado view state ↗ 35 N ▾
- Archuleta 08007
- Boulder 08013
- Chaffee 08015
- Clear Creek 08019
- Conejos 08021
- Custer 08027
- Delta 08029
- Dolores 08033
- Eagle 08037
- El Paso 08041
- Garfield 08045
- Gilpin 08047
- Grand 08049
- Gunnison 08051
- Hinsdale 08053
- Huerfano 08055
- Jackson 08057
- La Plata 08067
- Lake 08065
- Larimer 08069
- Las Animas 08071
- Mesa 08077
- Mineral 08079
- Moffat 08081
- Montezuma 08083
- Montrose 08085
- Ouray 08091
- Park 08093
- Pitkin 08097
- Rio Grande 08105
- Routt 08107
- Saguache 08109
- San Juan 08111
- Summit 08117
- Teller 08119
Idaho view state ↗ 29 N ▾
- Adams 16003
- Bear Lake 16007
- Benewah 16009
- Blaine 16013
- Boise 16015
- Bonner 16017
- Bonneville 16019
- Boundary 16021
- Camas 16025
- Canyon 16027
- Caribou 16029
- Cassia 16031
- Clark 16033
- Clearwater 16035
- Custer 16037
- Elmore 16039
- Franklin 16041
- Fremont 16043
- Gem 16045
- Gooding 16047
- Idaho 16049
- Latah 16057
- Lemhi 16059
- Lincoln 16063
- Madison 16065
- Owyhee 16073
- Teton 16081
- Twin Falls 16083
- Valley 16085
Montana view state ↗ 28 N ▾
- Beaverhead 30001
- Big Horn 30003
- Broadwater 30007
- Carbon 30009
- Chouteau 30015
- Fergus 30027
- Flathead 30029
- Gallatin 30031
- Glacier 30035
- Granite 30039
- Jefferson 30043
- Judith Basin 30045
- Lake 30047
- Lewis and Clark 30049
- Lincoln 30053
- Madison 30057
- Meagher 30059
- Mineral 30061
- Missoula 30063
- Park 30067
- Pondera 30073
- Powell 30077
- Ravalli 30081
- Sanders 30089
- Silver Bow 30093
- Stillwater 30095
- Sweet Grass 30097
- Teton 30099
Nevada view state ↗ 7 N ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 7 N ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 32 N ▾
- Baker 41001
- Benton 41003
- Clackamas 41005
- Clatsop 41007
- Columbia 41009
- Coos 41011
- Crook 41013
- Curry 41015
- Deschutes 41017
- Douglas 41019
- Grant 41023
- Harney 41025
- Hood River 41027
- Jackson 41029
- Jefferson 41031
- Josephine 41033
- Klamath 41035
- Lake 41037
- Lane 41039
- Lincoln 41041
- Linn 41043
- Malheur 41045
- Marion 41047
- Morrow 41049
- Multnomah 41051
- Polk 41053
- Umatilla 41059
- Union 41061
- Wallowa 41063
- Wasco 41065
- Wheeler 41069
- Yamhill 41071
Utah view state ↗ 27 N ▾
- Beaver 49001
- Box Elder 49003
- Cache 49005
- Carbon 49007
- Daggett 49009
- Duchesne 49013
- Emery 49015
- Garfield 49017
- Grand 49019
- Iron 49021
- Juab 49023
- Kane 49025
- Millard 49027
- Morgan 49029
- Piute 49031
- Rich 49033
- San Juan 49037
- Sanpete 49039
- Sevier 49041
- Summit 49043
- Tooele 49045
- Uintah 49047
- Utah 49049
- Wasatch 49051
- Washington 49053
- Wayne 49055
- Weber 49057
Washington view state ↗ 24 N ▾
- Asotin 53003
- Chelan 53007
- Clallam 53009
- Clark 53011
- Columbia 53013
- Cowlitz 53015
- Garfield 53023
- Grays Harbor 53027
- Jefferson 53031
- King 53033
- Kittitas 53037
- Klickitat 53039
- Lewis 53041
- Mason 53045
- Pend Oreille 53051
- Pierce 53053
- Skagit 53057
- Skamania 53059
- Snohomish 53061
- Stevens 53065
- Thurston 53067
- Whatcom 53073
- Whitman 53075
- Yakima 53077
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/POBI6 ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/2889291 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z