Virginia Knotweed or Jumpseed, Persicaria virginiana
(formerly Tovara virginiana or Polygonum virginianum)
Polygonaceae or Buckwheat Family

Overall 1 to 4 feet tall, but most of that is the long, thin, jointed flowerstalk, along which the tiny white flowers are widely spaced. Flowers are cup-shaped with 4 lobes. Leaves wide lance-shaped, pointed, not opposite each other. Early leaves, before the flower stalks form, are marked witha reddish chevron. Blooms in summer.

Native woodland plant. In Wildwood, occasional on the western slope.

The tiny flowers on the long jointed stalks make this easy to identify. Alumroot (Heuchera americana) also has tiny flowers on long stalks, but the flowers and leaves are very different and the stalk is not jointed.