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Plant family

Polygonaceae

Called “knotweed” in GBIF

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. Alternatively, it may have a different origin, meaning 'many seeds'.

From Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

1,868
accepted species in GBIF
Source: GBIF
108
genera in GBIF
Source: GBIF
9
plants on Plant News
15
research articles
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Plants in this family

9 plants

Genera in this family

Also here, with one plant each: Coccoloba (Sea Grape), Polygonum (Prostrate Knotweed), Reynoutria (Japanese Knotweed), Rheum (Rheum ribes (wild rhubarb)), Rumex (broad-leaved dock).

Research on Polygonaceae

15 articles
PubMed → · research article

Buckwheat's natural compounds may boost gut and metabolic health

The buckwheat you might grow as a fast-maturing cover crop or harvest for homemade soba and panca...

PubMed → · research article

Gene editing makes buckwheat seeds taste less bitter

A nutritious, drought-tolerant grain that's been held back by its bitter taste could soon show up...

A buckwheat peptide helps plants grow with less nitrogen fertilizer

If you've ever over-fertilized a garden bed and watched runoff wash nutrients away, this points t...

Buckwheat stores aluminum in specific leaf and stem tissues

If you garden in acidic soil where aluminum toxicity stunts most crops, buckwheat's knack for saf...

What science is finding about Polygonaceae

Every article on Plant News that mentions a member of this family, newest first.

Gene editing makes buckwheat seeds taste less bitter

A nutritious, drought-tolerant grain that's been held back by its bitter taste could soon show up in more kitchens and gardens...

Tartary buckwheat crispr / crop-improvement

Rhubarb root extract helps sunlight clean dye-polluted water

The same wild rhubarb species foragers prize for its tart stalks is showing a second life: its roots can grow...

Rheum ribes (wild rhubarb) phytoremediation / ethnobotany

A buckwheat peptide helps plants grow with less nitrogen fertilizer

If you've ever over-fertilized a garden bed and watched runoff wash nutrients away, this points toward crops engineered to do...

Tartary buckwheat plant-signaling / crop-improvement

Flowers without tubes still sort pollen for cross-pollination

Next time you spot a simple, open flower buzzing with flies or small insects, know that its shape and the pollinator's body...

Persicaria jucunda pollinators / plant-signaling

Buckwheat's gene duo helps it shrug off toxic metals

A hardy, fast-growing crop that can soak up or block lead and cadmium could turn contaminated urban lots and old industrial...

Tartary buckwheat phytoremediation / crop-improvement

Buckwheat stores aluminum in specific leaf and stem tissues

If you garden in acidic soil where aluminum toxicity stunts most crops, buckwheat's knack for safely storing the metal in its...

Buckwheat phytoremediation / soil-health

Common cracked-sidewalk weed confirmed growing in Bozeman, Montana

That tough little weed mashed flat in your driveway cracks and along foot-worn garden paths is prostrate knotweed, and...

Prostrate Knotweed urban-ecology / invasive-species

Common weedy dock spotted and verified on a Washington street corner

That scrappy weed poking through the sidewalk cracks near your mailbox is exactly the kind of everyday sighting that, once...

broad-leaved dock invasive-species / urban-ecology

Reprogramming the Genetic Potential of Buckwheat: A Roadmap for Functional Trait Improvement and Breeder-Ready Innovation.

Buckwheat is the fast-growing cover crop many gardeners already sow between seasons to smother weeds and feed pollinators —...

Buckwheat crop-improvement / climate-adaptation

Unraveling the therapeutic mechanisms of Polygonum cuspidatum in pulmonary fibrosis: Modulation of M2 macrophage polarization and glycolysis pathways.

Japanese knotweed, the plant many gardeners wage relentless war against along fence lines and riverbanks, turns out to carry...

Japanese Knotweed medicinal-plants / ethnobotany

Phytoremediation patterns of riparian macrophytes along a spatial pollution gradient: an integrated risk-performance assessment in the Riva stream, Türkiye.

If you're restoring a rain garden or bioswale near a road or old industrial site, common reed and purple loosestrife relatives...

Pale Persicaria phytoremediation / water-quality

sea grape (Coccoloba uvifera) observed in S Atlantic Ave, New Smyrna Beach, FL, US

Sea grape is one of the toughest salt-tolerant shrubs you can grow near the beach, and confirmed sightings like this help...

Sea Grape urban-ecology / coastal-plants

Rhizosphere phosphorus and iron cycling accelerates manganese phytoextraction by Polygonum lapathifolium.

Contaminated soil near old mines can leach manganese into waterways and vegetable gardens downhill — this discovery shows that...

Pale Persicaria phytoremediation / soil-health

sea grape (Coccoloba uvifera) observed in NW 20th St, Boca Raton, FL, US

Sea grape is a salt-tolerant, wildlife-friendly native plant that thrives in Florida gardens and coastal landscapes, and...

Sea Grape urban-ecology / phenology