Bohemian Hybrid Knotweed at Otterhead

Bohemian Hybrid Knotweed (Reynoutria or Fallopia x bohemica) is the result of Japanese Knotweed crossed with Giant Knotweed.

Bohemian Hybrid Knotweed at Otterhead September 2006. 

Bohemian Hybrid Knotweed at Otterhead September 2006.

There are believed to be a few varieties of this cross and possibly that found at Otterhead has particularly striking flowers. 

Bohemian Hybrid Knotweed at Otterhead October 2009.

The autumn display though short-lived is also striking. There are of course many plants with striking flowers and foliage that are not so invasive. Unlike at many locations, this plant would have been acquired at some cost and deliberately planted at Otterhead in Victorian times when the lost gardens of Otterhead House were being developed. Although very invasive, this plant has the dangerous ability to pollinate the flowers (all female in the UK) of Japanese Knotweed thereby producing more knotweed seedlings. However at Otterhead there are no known locations of Japanese Knotweed.

Copyright The Otterhead Estate Trust Company Ltd. 2011-2017