The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is based on the genus Polygonum, and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789 in his book, Genera Plantarum. The name may refer to the many swollen nodes the stems of some species have, being derived from Greek, poly meaning 'many' and gony meaning 'knee' or 'joint'. Alternatively, it may have a different derivation, meaning 'many seeds'.
Rumex crispus, the curly dock, curled dock or yellow dock, is a perennial flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae, native to Europe and Western Asia.
Persicaria maculosa is an annual plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Common names include lady's thumb, spotted lady's thumb, Jesusplant, and redshank. It is widespread across Eurasia from Iceland south to Portugal and east to Japan. It is also present as an introduced and invasive species in North America, where it was first noted in the Great Lakes region in 1843 and has now spread through most of the continent.
Fallopia convolvulus, the black-bindweed or wild buckwheat, is a fast-growing annual flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae native throughout Europe, Asia and northern Africa. It is an arable plant.
Fagopyrum tataricum, also known as Tartary buckwheat, green buckwheat, ku qiao, Tatar buckwheat, or bitter buckwheat, is a domesticated food plant in the genus Fagopyrum in the family Polygonaceae. With another species in the same genus, common buckwheat, it is often counted as a cereal, but unlike the true cereals the buckwheats are not members of the grass family. Thus, they are not related to true wheat. Tartary buckwheat is more bitter and contains more rutin than common buckwheat. It also contains quercitrin.
Polygonum arenastrum, commonly known as equal-leaved knotgrass, is a summer annual flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae. It is native to Europe and can be found on other continents as an introduced species and a common noxious weed. Other common names include common knotweed, prostrate knotweed, mat grass, oval-leaf knotweed, stone grass, wiregrass, and door weed, as well as many others, knotweed was first seen in North America in 1809 and is now seen across much of the United States and Canada.
Abutilon theophrasti is an annual plant in the family Malvaceae, native to southern Asia. Its specific epithet theophrasti commemorates the ancient Greek botanist-philosopher Theophrastus. Abutilon theophrasti is the type species of the genus Abutilon.
The genus Brunnichia, also known as redvine, Ladies' Eardrops, or buckwheat vine, are perennial woody vines native to the United States.
Mollugo verticillata, the green carpetweed, is a rapidly spreading annual plant from tropical America. In eastern North America, it is a common weed growing in disturbed areas. It forms a prostrate circular mat that can quickly climb over nearby plants and obstacles. The species has been reported from every state in the United States except Alaska, Hawaii, and Utah, as well as from British Columbia, Manitoba. Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Although considered an invasive weed, M.verticillata is also known to be edible. Archaeological evidence has shown that M. verticillata has been in North America for about 3000 years. Sometimes also referred to as "Indian chickweed", in China this plant is referred to as zhong leng su mi cao.
Taraxacum officinale, the common dandelion, is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant of the family Asteraceae (Compositae).
Persicaria bicornis is a North American species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae). The common name is pink smartweed. It is native to the central and southwestern United States from northern Texas west to Arizona, east to Louisiana, and north as far as eastern Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois.
Rumex maritimus, commonly called golden dock, bristle dock, or seashore dock, is an annual plant species of the genus Rumex. Rumex maritimus grows in Argentina, Burma, Canada, China, and the United States. It is native to Canada and most of the 48 states. The life span of Rumex maritimus is rarely biennial in moist environments. This herb belongs to the family Polygonaceae.
Antigonon is a genus of flowering plants in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. It contains three species native to the Americas.
Amaranthus tuberculatus, commonly known as roughfruit amaranth, rough-fruited water-hemp, or tall waterhemp, is a species of flowering plant. It is a summer annual broadleaf with a germination period that lasts several months. Tall waterhemp has been reported as a weed in 40 of 50 U.S. states.
Acalypha ostryifolia, sometimes spelled ostryaefolia, is a plant in the family Euphorbiaceae and is commonly known as hophornbeam copperleaf, hornbeam copperleaf, or pineland threeseed mercury, is an annual herb of the copperleaf genus Acalypha. It is a native of North and Central America and is generally considered a weed.
Rumex sanguineus, commonly known as bloody dock or red veined dock, is a perennial flowering plant species in the family Polygonaceae. Rumex sanguineus is a dicot and can be observed in Europe with at least two varieties
Bistorta plumosa is a flowering plant species in the family Polygonaceae, or buckwheat family. Common names for Bistorta Plumosa include meadow bistort. Bistorta plumosa is monoecious, with flowers containing both male and female reproductive parts that are pollinated by insects. Birstorta plumosa flowers annually in the summer months from May to June and can be found in habitats ranging from moist to dry sites and tundra in North America, Alaska, Yukon, the Northwest Territory, and East Asia.
Persicaria bungeana is a herbaceous annual, flowering plant species in the family Polygonaceae. Commonly known as prickly smartweed or Bunge's smartweed, it is a weed found in soybean fields of the Mid-Western United States of America.
Rumex lapponicus, known commonly as Lapland mountain sorrel is a perennial flowering herb species in the family Polygonaceae. It is commonly found in meadows and rock outcrops, as well as montane, arenicolous, and alluvial habitats.
Plantago arenaria, commonly known as branched plantain, sand plantain, or black psyllium, is a flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae, and is one of a few species in the Plantago genus under the common name psyllium. The plant is native to parts of Africa, Europe, Russia, and Asia, and has been naturalized in many other areas such as Australia and North America. The plant can be found mostly in dry inland areas, such as those that are sandy, and has also naturalized on roadsides and in meadows. The plant is not used broadly as a food source, but has been cultivated for its seeds which serve a medicinal use as a laxative.
