Polygonaceae

  • Family

    Polygonaceae (Magnoliophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Polygonaceae

  • Common Names

    Buckwheat Family

  • Description

    Number of genera: 30

    Number of species: 1,000

    Description (from PLANTAE): Herbs, shrubs, trees, lianas or vines. Monoecious or dioecious. Stems sometimes hollow, often with conspicuous swollen nodes, sometimes with anomalous secondary growth (concentric cambial rings). Stipules absent or present and reduced to a row of hairs.

    Taxonomic notes (from PLANTAE): Traditionally, the Polygonaceae were placed near various families in the Caryophyllales on the basis of the unilocular ovary and single, basal ovule. However, studies have revealed that the family lacks P-type sieve-tube plastids, anatropous ovules, betalain pigments, and perisperm—characteristics uniting the well-defined Caryophyllales. The family is provisionally placed in the monotypic order Polygonales. Genomic phylogenies suggest that the family is among 25 others in an expanded Caryophyllales and within this clade, they are sister to Plumbaginaceae. The family pair is also supported by the shared morphology (e.g., unilocular ovary, solitary basal ovule, peripheral embryo and tricolporate to pantoporate, trinucleate pollen). The two biggest problems in the family are Polygonum and Persicaria. There is much disagreement as to the delimitaion of these two genera. The genera in the strictest sense are distinct, but when they are loaded with synonyms, the problems multiply.

    Distribution (from PLANTAE): Mainly north Temperate. Many are widespread weeds.

  • Floras and Monographs

    Polygonaceae: [Book] Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.