Botany
Polygonum pubescens is a perennial herb, up to 75 cm tall. Leaves are stalkless, 5 to 15 cm long, smooth or hairy. Pinkish-red flowers are borne in drooping racemes, 5 to 10 cm long. Nut is small, black, and minutely granular.

Distribution
- In swampy places at low altitude in Cagayan Province in Luzon.
- Also occurs in India, China, Taiwan and Malaya.

Properties
Emmenagogue, abortifacient.

Uses
Edibility
Leaves used as potherb or seasoning.
Folkloric
In China the bruised plant is applied locally to blistered and swollen feet.
Used for snake bites.
Also used as emmenagogue and abortifacient.
Others
In India's Arunachal Pradesh, whole plant paste is thrown into the stream to stupefy the fish, make them float up for an easy catch.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Traditional knowledge of Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh on plants / R C Srivastava and Adi community / Indian Journ of Traditional Knowledge, Vol 8(2), April 2009, pp 146-153