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 origin, meaning 'many seeds'.
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 plants 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.
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.
Persicaria pensylvanica is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. It is native to parts of North America, where it is widespread in Canada and the United States. It has also been noted as an introduced species in parts of Europe and South America. Common names include Pennsylvania smartweed and pinkweed.
Polygonum arenastrum, commonly known as equal-leaved knotgrass, is a summer annual flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae. Other common names include common knotweed, prostrate knotweed, mat grass, oval-leaf knotweed, stone grass, wiregrass, and door weed, as well as many others. It is native to Europe and can be found on other continents as an introduced species and a common noxious weed. Knotweed was first seen in North America in 1809 and is now seen across much of the United States and Canada.
Persicaria lapathifolia, known as pale persicaria, is a plant of the family Polygonaceae. It is considered to be native throughout most of the world, from arctic to tropical realms, except South America and Southern Africa. It is closely related to Persicaria maculosa and as such is considered a weed in Britain and Europe. Other common names for the plant include pale smartweed, curlytop knotweed, and willow weed. It is a species complex made up of a great many varying forms, sometimes considered varieties. The environment also has a strong influence on the morphology of an individual plant.
Persicaria virginiana, also called jumpseed, Virginia knotweed or woodland knotweed is a North American species of smartweed within the buckwheat family. It is unusual as a shade-tolerant member of a mostly sun-loving genus. Jumpseed is a perennial, named for its seeds which can "jump" several feet when a ripe seedpod is disturbed.
Polygonum ramosissimum is a North American species of herbaceous annual plants in the buckwheat family, widespread across much of Canada and the United States, where it is commonly called bushy knotweed. It is susceptible to downy mildew caused by the oomycete species Peronospora americana.
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 Americas.
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.
Persicaria chinensis, commonly known as creeping smartweed or Chinese knotweed, is a plant species from the family Polygonaceae. It is widespread across China, Japan, the Indian Subcontinent, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. It is a common plant in Malaysia and Vietnam, where it is used in herbal remedies, such as for the treatment of dysentery, enteritis, and sore throat. It is a weed in some coastal areas of New South Wales and Queensland in Australia.
Persicaria amphibia is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by several common names, including longroot smartweed, water knotweed, water smartweed, and amphibious bistort. It is native to much of North America, Asia, Europe, and parts of Africa, and it grows elsewhere as an introduced species and sometimes a noxious weed.
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 is 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.
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.
Persicaria hydropiperoides is a New World species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common names swamp smartweed and false waterpepper. It is widespread across much of North America and South America. It grows in moist and wet habitats, and is sometimes semi-aquatic.
Koenigia polystachya is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family, known by the common names Himalayan knotweed and cultivated knotweed. It has several regularly used synonyms, including Polygonum polystachyum, Aconogonon polystachyum and Persicaria wallichii.
Polygonum achoreum, common names Blake's knotweed, leathery knotweed or striate knotweed, is a North American species of plants in the buckwheat family. It is widespread across much of Canada and the northern United States.
