Day 317: Is it Newberry's Knotweed? Newberry's Fleeceflower? Davis' Knotweed? Polygonum? Koenigia? Aconogonum? Aconogonon? For pity's sake, somebody settle on something here! Current taxonomy lists it as Aconogonon davisiae which would incline me to think it was Davis' Knotweed, but I learned it as Newberry's. I'm not sure when or why it was taken away from Newberry, but someone seems to have wanted to expunge him from the record. In any event, this plant is quite common in the Sunrise area of Mount Rainier National Park, and turns a glowing shade of pinkish-red in autumn, setting the slopes ablaze with colour. The name "Aconogonon" comes from Greek and refers to the fruit which has three distinct angular ridges and contains a single seed, descriptive if you're up on your Greek (which I am not) and tons of fun to say. The problem is knowing when to stop: Aconogonogonogonon and on and on.
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