Persicaria perfoliata

{
  "id": "MLC-T-ENV-020662",
  "term": "Persicaria perfoliata",
  "field": "Environment",
  "definition": "Mile-a-minute weed, or Asiatic tearthumb, is an herbaceous, annual, trailing vine. Stems are armed with recurved barbs which are also present on the underside of the leaf blades. The light green colored leaves are shaped like an equilateral (equal-sided) triangle and alternate along the narrow, delicate stems. Distinctive circular, cup-shaped leafy structures, called ocreae, surround the stem at nodes, thus the name ‘perfoliatum.’ Flower buds, and later flowers and fruits, emerge from within the ocreae. Flowers are small, white and generally inconspicuous. The fruits are attractive, deep blue and arranged in clusters at terminals. Each berry-like fruit contains a single glossy, black or reddish-black hard seed called an achene. The scientific name was recently changed from Polygonum perfoliatum as a result of extensive taxonomic research on the genus.",
  "references": [
    "National Park Service Plant Conservation Alliance at http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/pepe1.htm"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/environment/persicaria-perfoliata/"
}