File:Polygonum_aviculare_4.JPG · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Polygonum
Sign in to savePolygonum 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 ( 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 ha
OverviewAI-generated
Polygonum is a genus of plants in the family Polygonaceae, classified within the order Caryophyllales, class Magnoliopsida, and phylum Tracheophyta. The name derives from the Greek words for "many" and "knee." It was described by Linnaeus in 1753 and is also known by common names such as knotweed and knotgrasses. The taxonomic type for the genus is Polygonum aviculare.
The genus produces fruit of the nucule type. While WoRMS lists its habitat as marine, other records indicate occurrences in Mexico and Belice. Institutions including UACH, ENCB-IPN, ECOSUR, INECOL, and IIB-UV hold records related to this taxon. The genus has been documented in various sources, including the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary and Gujin Tushu Jicheng.
Synthesized by Vinony from 43 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, PubMed, Gbif Occ, Plants of the World, WoRMS, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
knotgrasses
Polygonum
GENUS
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassMagnoliopsida
- OrderCaryophyllales
- FamilyPolygonaceae
General: Polygonum (from Gr. ολοί, poloi, many and γονυ, gonu, knee).
via GBIF · Kew POWO
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 10,658
- With media
- 7,785
- Family
- Polygonaceae
- Collections
- UACH, ENCB-IPN, ECOSUR, INECOL, IIB-UV, FC-UNAM
- Recorded in
- Mexico, Belice
Research
2,449 papers- Polygonum ciliinerve (Nakai) Ohwi: a review of its botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and toxicology.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2024
- Polygonum capitatum, the Hmong Medicinal Flora: A Comprehensive Review of Its Phytochemical, Pharmacological and Pharmacokinetic Characteristics.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022
- Advances for pharmacological activities of Polygonum cuspidatum - A review.Pharmaceutical biology · 2023
- Polygonum hydropiper L. ethanol extract attenuates ferroptosis and ulcerative colitis by modulating glutathione metabolism through inhibition of KEAP1-Nrf2 interaction.Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology · 2025
- Research progress on hepatotoxicity mechanism of polygonum multiflorum and its main components.Toxicon : official journal of the International Society on Toxinology · 2024
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Polygoneae
- Image
- Polygonum persicaria.jpg
Show 9 more facts
- taxon rank
- genus
- taxon name
- Polygonum
- Commons category
- Polygonum
- topic's main category
- Category:Polygonum
- Commons gallery
- Polygonum
- taxon common name
- dresen
- has fruit type
- nucule
- taxonomic type
- Polygonum aviculare
via Wikidata · CC0
~12 min read
Encyclopedic overview
16 sectionsContents
- Description
- Taxonomy
- Classification and phylogeny
- Species
- Reclassified species
- ''Polygonum'' species that have been reclassified as ''Bistorta''
- ''Polygonum'' species that have been reclassified as ''Fagopyrum''
- ''Polygonum'' species that have been reclassified as ''Fallopia''
- ''Polygonum'' species that have been reclassified as ''Koenigia''
- ''Polygonum'' species that have been reclassified as ''Persicaria''
- ''Polygonum'' species that have been reclassified as ''Reynoutria''
- Unresolved species
- Uses
- References in literature
- References
- External links
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 ( 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.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Polygonum” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.