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'.
Reynoutria japonica, synonyms Fallopia japonica and Polygonum cuspidatum, is a species of herbaceous perennial plant of the knotweed and buckwheat family Polygonaceae. It is commonly known as Asian knotweed or Japanese knotweed. It is native to East Asia in Japan, China and Korea. In North America and Europe, the species has successfully established itself in numerous habitats, and is classified as a pest and invasive species in several countries.
Persicaria is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the knotweed family, Polygonaceae. Plants of the genus are known commonly as knotweeds or smartweeds. It has a cosmopolitan distribution, with species occurring nearly worldwide. The genus was segregated from Polygonum.
Polygonum is a genus of about 130 species of flowering plant in the buckwheat and knotweed family Polygonaceae. Common names include knotweed and knotgrass. In the Middle English glossary of herbs Alphita, it was known as ars-smerte. There have been various opinions about how broadly the genus should be defined. For example, buckwheat has sometimes been included in the genus as Polygonum fagopyrum. Former genera such as Polygonella have been subsumed into Polygonum; other genera have been split off.
Fallopia is a genus of about 12 species of flowering plants in the buckwheat family, often included in a wider treatment of the related genus Polygonum in the past, and previously including Reynoutria. The genus is native to temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere, but species have been introduced elsewhere. The genus includes species forming vines and shrubs.
Koenigia is a genus of plants in the family Polygonaceae. The genus Aconogonon has been merged into Koenigia.
Persicaria capitata, the pink-headed persicaria, pinkhead smartweed, pink knotweed, Japanese knotweed, or pink bubble persicaria, is an Asian species of plants in the genus Persicaria within the buckwheat family. It is native to Asia and grown as an ornamental in other countries. It has become naturalized in Australia, South Africa and a few scattered locations in the United States.
Persicaria cespitosa, known as tufted knotweed, is a summer annual weedy plant of the family Polygonaceae, native to eastern Asia, from China to Japan and Southeast Asia, and introduced into North America. The plant grows to 3.5 feet (105 cm) in height with elliptic to lanceolate leaves, usually 20–75 mm long. It has small pink or red flowers arranged in tight terminal spikes.
Fallopia baldschuanica is an Asian species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by several common names, including Russian-vine, Bukhara fleeceflower, Chinese fleecevine, mile-a-minute and silver lace vine. It is native to Asia, and it can be found growing wild in parts of Europe and North and Central America as an introduced species.
Polygonum douglasii is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by the common name Douglas's knotweed. It is native to much of northern and western North America, where it can be found in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas. It has been found in Canada from British Columbia north to Yukon and east as far as Québec, and in the United States as far south as California, New Mexico, Iowa, and New York.
Polygonum marinense is a rare North American species of flowering plants in the buckwheat family known by the common name Marin knotweed. It is endemic to California, where it is known from just a few locations north and east of San Francisco Bay.
Polygonum paronychia is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by the common names dune knotweed, black knotweed, and beach knotweed. It is native to the coastline of western North America from British Columbia to California, where it grows in sandy coastal habitat such as beaches, dunes, and scrub.
Polygonum parryi is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by the common names Parry's knotweed and prickly knotweed. It is native to the western United States from Washington to California, where it grows in several types of moist, open habitat in mountainous and coastal areas.
Polygonum polygaloides is a North American species of flowering plants in the buckwheat family known by the common names milkwort knotweed and polygala knotweed. It is native to much of western North America, where it can be found in many types of moist habitat. It is a variable species, usually divided into a number of subspecies.
Polygonum shastense is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by the common name Shasta knotweed. It is native to sections of southwestern Oregon, northwestern Nevada, and northern and central California, where it grows in rocky and gravelly mountainous habitat up to 3300 meters (11,000 feet) elevation. It is most common in the Sierra Nevada. The species name refers to its occurrence on Mount Shasta in Shasta County, California.
Polygonum hickmanii is a rare species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common names Scotts Valley polygonum and Hickman's knotweed. It is endemic to Santa Cruz County, California, where it is known from only two sites in the Scotts Valley. It grows on coastal prairie on mudstone and sandstone substrates, in an area known for its spring wildflowers. The small plant was first noted in 1990 and described as a new species in 1995. The plant is a federally listed endangered species.
Persicaria longiseta is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by the common names Oriental lady's thumb, bristly lady's thumb, Asiatic smartweed, long-bristled smartweed, low smartweed, Asiatic waterpepper, bristled knotweed, bunchy knotweed, and tufted knotweed. It is native to Asia, and it is present in North America and Europe as an introduced species and often a weed.
Polygonum smallianum is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by the common name largeleaf jointweed. It is native to a small area around the border between Alabama and Florida in the United States.
Koenigia phytolaccifolia is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family, known by the common name poke knotweed.
Koenigia × fennica, known as Finnish knotweed, is a hybrid between two species of Koenigia, K. alpina and K. weyrichii, members of the family Polygonaceae, the knotweed family. It generally only known as a cultivated garden plant, but plants have been recorded a few times surviving in abandoned areas in northern Europe, especially in Finland. The cultivar 'Johanniswolke' is considered an attractive ornamental perennial plant.
