October flower
By LYNN ARTZ, DAVID RODDENBERRY, and SANDY TEDDER
True to its name, October flower (Polygonum polygamum) explodes into a profusion of tiny white blooms for several weeks in October. The flowers, in clusters called terminal racemes, lack true petals. Each flower has 5 white to pinkish-white petal-like tepals and a papery bract. Male and female parts are on separate flowers. October flower is a semi-woody perennial wildflower or subshrub in the buckwheat family. It grows 2-3 feet tall and wide in full sun and dry sandy soil. It is drought tolerant but not salt tolerant. It may be deer resistant. Found in sandhills, scrub, and scrubby flatwoods throughout much of Florida, the blooms are especially attractive to native bees. Also called jointweed and known as Polygonella polygama, October flower is blooming now in the northwest garden at Sopchoppy Depot Park.
