Plant · P-713

Erect Knotweed

Polygonum erectum

Erect Knotweed is a native annual grain plant whose small hard seeds were once a staple crop across eastern North America, gathered and cultivated from about 1000 BC until maize displaced it. The domesticated large-seeded form no longer exists anywhere, so growing it today means starting from the same wild-type seed its ancient farmers worked with. Planted alongside goosefoot rather than alone, the pair produced trial yields that beat quinoa and buckwheat and matched traditionally grown maize. Its seed comes in two forms that germinate unevenly across a full year, so a stand raised from wild seed comes up ragged, with volunteers appearing well after the first sowing.