Persicaria perfoliata

Persicaria perfoliata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Persicaria
Species:
P. perfoliata
Binomial name
Persicaria perfoliata
(L.) H.Gross
Synonyms
  • Ampelygonum perfoliatum (L.) Roberty & Vautier
  • Fagopyrum perfoliatum (L.) Raf.
  • Polygonum perfoliatum L.
  • Tracaulon perfoliatum (L.) Greene
  • Truellum perfoliatum (L.) Soják

Persicaria perfoliata (basionym Polygonum perfoliatum) is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family. Common names include mile-a-minute, devil's tail, giant climbing tearthumb, and Asiatic tearthumb. It is a trailing herbaceous annual vine with barbed stems and triangular leaves. It is native to most of temperate and tropical eastern Asia, occurring from eastern Russia and Japan in the north, and the range extending to the Philippines and India in the south.

P. perfoliata can be an aggressive, highly invasive weed outside of its native range. In Europe, Persicaria perfoliata is included since 2016 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, cultivated, transported, commercialized, planted, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.