Bistorta vacciniifolia (Wall. ex Meisner) Greene

Subshrubs densely tufted, 10-20 cm tall, much branched. Bark black-brown, longitudinally exfoliating; branches nearly prostrate; branchlets suberect, dense. Petiole short; leaf blade elliptic, 1-2 × 0.6-1 cm, thinly leathery, midvein prominent abaxially, base narrowly cuneate, margin entire, slightly revolute; ocrea brown, tubular, ca. 1 cm, membranous, veins numerous, large, apex oblique, not ciliate, usually lacerate. Inflorescence terminal, spicate, lax, 4-8 cm, 6-8 mm in diam.; bracts narrowly ovate, membranous, apex acute, each 1- or 2-flowered. Pedicels longer than bracts. Perianth purple-red, 5-parted; tepals narrowly elliptic, 3.5-4.5 mm. Stamens 8, exserted; anthers purple. Styles 3; stigmas capitate. Achenes included in persistent perianth, dull, narrowly ellipsoid, trigonous, 3-4 mm. Fl. Aug-Sep, fr. Sep-Oct.

Xizang [Bhutan, India, Kashmir, Nepal, Pakistan, Sikkim].

Thickets on mountain slopes, mountainous rocky crevices; 3000-4200 m.

Bistorta vacciniifolia (Wallich ex Meisner) Greene; Persicaria vacciniifolia (Wallich ex Meisner) Ronse Decraene.

Bistorta vacciniifolia, the whortleberry-leaved knotweed, is a species of flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae, native to Tibet and the Himalaya. Well-suited for clay soils, as its synonym Persicaria vacciniifolia it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.