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- ›flowering plants
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- ›pinks, cactuses, and allies
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- ›Polygonoideae
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- ›Polygoninae
knotweeds
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 (though the common names may refer more broadly to plants from Polygonaceae). In the Middle English glossary of herbs Alphita (c. 1400–1425), it was known as ars-smerte. There have been various opinions about how broadly the genus should be defined. For example, buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) 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.
The genus primarily grows in northern temperate regions. The species are very diverse, ranging from prostrate herbaceous annual plants to erect herbaceous perennial plants.
55 branches of this genus, most-observed first
Polygonum
sectionPolygonum
Duravia
sectionDuravia
Sea Knotgrass
speciesPolygonum maritimum
Horsetail Knotgrass
speciesPolygonum equisetiforme
Lesser Red-knotgrass
speciesPolygonum arenarium
Polygonum undulatum
speciesPolygonum undulatum
Indian Knotgrass
speciesPolygonum cognatum
Polygonum cedrorum
speciesPolygonum cedrorum
Polygonum novoascanicum
speciesPolygonum novoascanicum
Polygonum scoparium
speciesPolygonum scoparium
Fuzzy Knotweed
speciesPolygonum paronychioides
Narrowleaf Knotweed
speciesPolygonum bellardii
Polygonum alpestre
speciesPolygonum alpestre
Alaska Knotweed
speciesPolygonum humifusum
Polygonum palaestinum
speciesPolygonum palaestinum
Polygonum romanum
speciesPolygonum romanum
Polygonum setosum
speciesPolygonum setosum
Polygonum polyneuron
speciesPolygonum polyneuron
Polygonum polycnemoides
speciesPolygonum polycnemoides
Polygonum snijmaniae
speciesPolygonum snijmaniae
Polygonum salsugineum
speciesPolygonum salsugineum
Polygonum stypticum
speciesPolygonum stypticum
Polygonum libani
speciesPolygonum libani
Polygonum bowenkampii
speciesPolygonum bowenkampii
Tiny-Flower Knotweed
speciesPolygonum chaturbhujanum
Polygonum foliosum
speciesPolygonum foliosum
Polygonum delfini
speciesPolygonum delfini
Polygonum tenorei
speciesPolygonum tenorei
Polygonum mezianum
speciesPolygonum mezianum
Polygonum euxinum
speciesPolygonum euxinum
Polygonum idaeum
speciesPolygonum idaeum
Polygonum volchovense
speciesPolygonum volchovense
Polygonum afromontanum
speciesPolygonum afromontanum
Polygonum afghanicum
speciesPolygonum afghanicum
Polygonum mesembricum
speciesPolygonum mesembricum
Polygonum brasiliense
speciesPolygonum brasiliense
Polygonum fibrilliferum
speciesPolygonum fibrilliferum
Polygonum serpyllaceum
speciesPolygonum serpyllaceum
Polygonum effusum
speciesPolygonum effusum
Polygonum icaricum
speciesPolygonum icaricum
Polygonum lacerum
speciesPolygonum lacerum
Polygonum biaristatum
speciesPolygonum biaristatum
Polygonum rottboellioides
speciesPolygonum rottboellioides
Polygonum luzuloides
speciesPolygonum luzuloides
Polygonum balansae
speciesPolygonum balansae
Polygonum longiocreatum
speciesPolygonum longiocreatum
Polygonum longipes
speciesPolygonum longipes
Polygonum hyrcanicum
speciesPolygonum hyrcanicum
Polygonum patuliforme
speciesPolygonum patuliforme
Polygonum psammophilum
speciesPolygonum psammophilum
Polygonum corrigioloides
speciesPolygonum corrigioloides
Polygonum papillosum
speciesPolygonum papillosum
Polygonum ekimianum
speciesPolygonum ekimianum
Gabriela's Knotweed
speciesPolygonum gabrielae
Polygonum cappadocicum
speciesPolygonum cappadocicum
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Commentaries on the Six Books of Pedanius Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1565 · p.1123
Commentaries on the Six Books of Pedanius Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1565 · p.1125
Famine Relief Herbal
Zhu Su · 1406 · p.27
Garden of Health
Jacob Meydenbach · 1491 · p.345
Living Images of Plants
Otto Brunfels · 1532 · p.68
Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants
Leonhart Fuchs · 1542 · p.648
Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants
Leonhart Fuchs · 1549 · p.646
Commentaries on the Six Books of Dioscorides
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1560 · p.644
Commentaries on the Six Books of Dioscorides
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1560 · p.644
Commentaries on the Six Books of Pedanius Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1565 · p.1124
Stirpium adversaria nova
Matthias de Lobel · 1571 · p.428
A New Herbal, or History of Plants
Rembert Dodoens (trans. Henry Lyte) · 1578 · p.123
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Polygonum in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 48972.