POLYGONACEAE – BUCKWHEAT (SMARTWEED) FAMILY Plant: mostly herbs, some vines, shrubs and rarely trees Stem: commonly with swollen joints or nodes where leaf attaches, stem sometimes zigzag shape Root: Leaves: simple, mostly entire, mostly alternate, rarely whorled or opposite, small to very large; stiplules often forms a sheath (ochreae or ocrea) around the stem just above the node, or sometimes reduced or none Flowers: perfect or monoecious or dioecious, usually in slender clusters, heads or spikes; tepals 2-6, green or often colored, sometimes in 2 series of 3, or sometimes 5-6; stamens 2-9+; ovary superior, 2-4 but mostly 3 carpels, 1 style Fruit: dried fruit, 3-sided or flattened with oval hard seed Other: mostly temperate climates; buckwheat and rhubarb food stuff; Dicotyledons Group Genera: 35+ genera; locally Brunnichia, Eriogonum, Fagopyrum, Oxyria (mountain sorrel), Polygonella (Jointweed), Polygonum, Rumex (Dock) WARNING – family descriptions are only a layman’s guide and should not be used as definitive Flower Morphology in the Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) Ocrea – a stipule sheath surrounding stem nodes is common in this family – may or may not have fringing hairs or bristles. Arrowleaf Tearthumb Water Smartweed [Knotweed] Woodland [Virginia] Knotweed Swamp [Longroot; Water] Smartweed Japanese Knotweed Dooryard knotweed Curly [Curled, Sour] Dock POLYGONACEAE – BUCKWHEAT (SMARTWEED) FAMILY American Buckwheat Vine [Ladies’ Eardrops]; Brunnichia ovata (Walter) Shinners Sea Grape [Bay Grape]; Coccoloba uvifera (L.) L. (Introduced) Flatcrown Buckwheat [Skeletonweed]; Eriogonum deflexum Torr. Fewflower Buckwheat; Eriogonum pauciflorum Pursh Redroot Buckwheat; Eriogonum racemosum Nutt. Sulphur [-Flower] Buckwheat; Eriogonum umbellatum Torr. Buckwheat; Fagopyrum esculentum Moench (Introduced) Alpine Mountain Sorrel; Oxyria digyna (L.) Hill Coastal [Sand] Jointweed; Polygonella articulata (L.) Meisn. Water Smartweed [Knotweed]; Polygonum amphibium L. Swamp [Longroot; Water] Smartweed Polygonum amphibium L. var. emersum Michx. X Polygonum amphibium L. var. stipulaceum Coleman Dooryard knotweed; Polygonum arenastrum L. (Introduced) Halberd-Leaved Tearthumb; Polygonum arifolium L. American Bistort; Polygonum bistortoides Pursh Oriental lady's thumb [Creeping Smartweed) Polygonum cespitosum Blume var. longisetum (Bruijn) A.N. Steward (Introduced) Black Bindweed; Polygonum convolvulus L. (Introduced) Japanese Knotweed; Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. & Zucc. (Introduced) Swamp Smartweed [False (Wild) Water-Pepper]; Polygonum hydropiperoides Michx. Nodding [Pale, Dock-Leaved] Smartweed [Curlytop Knotweed; Heart’s-Ease]; Polygonum lapathifolium L. Pennsylvania Smartweed [Pink Knotweed; Pinkweed]; Polygonum pensylvanicum L. [Spotted] Lady’s Thumb; Polygonum persicaria L. (Introduced) Dotted Smartweed; Polygonum punctatum Elliott var. punctatum Arrowleaf Tearthumb; Polygonum sagittatum L. POLYGONACEAE – BUCKWHEAT (SMARTWEED) FAMILY Climbing False Buckwheat; Polygonum scandens L. var. cristatum (Engelm. & Gray) Gleason Pleatleaf [Slender] Knotweed; Polygonum tenue Michx. Woodland [Virginia] Knotweed [Jumpseed]; Polygonum virginianum L. Alpine Bistort; Polygonum viviparum L. Pale Dock; Rumex altissimus Alph. Wood Common Sheep [Field] Sorrel Rumex acetosella L. (Introduced) Curly [Curled, Sour] Dock; Rumex crispus L. (Introduced) Heartwing Sorrel [Hastate Leaf Dock]; Rumex hastatulus Baldw. Bitter [Broad-, Blunt-Leaved] Dock; Rumex obtusifolius L. (Introduced) Greater Water Dock; Rumex orbiculatus Gray Swamp Dock; Rumex verticillatus L. American Buckwheat USDA Vine [Ladies’ Eardrops] Brunnichia ovata (Walter) Shinners Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Stoddard County, Missouri Notes: vine, woody at base; no petals, calyx light green and 5-lobed, pedicel of each flower flattened into a wing; leaves alternate, wedge shaped to lanceolate, entire; stem light brown, short hairy, with tendrils; fruit pink, leathery and winged; wet areas and low woods; summer [V Max Brown, 2010] Sea Grape [Bay Grape] USDA Coccoloba uvifera (L.) L. (Introduced) Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) Anna Maria Island, Florida Notes: shrub to small tree; flowers white, small, in spikes, floral tube fleshy; leaves shiny, large, evergreen and leathery, base cordate, veins often turn reddish; ocrea present on twigs; fruit (to 2+ cm) greenish turning red to purplish; spring [V Max Brown, 2016] Flatcrown Buckwheat [Skeletonweed] USDA Eriogonum deflexum Torr. Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) Near Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada Notes: flowers of 6 tepals, small, white to pinkish with red midline, bracts green, inflorescence a cyme; leaves basal, somewhat ovate to reniform or cordate, entire, with petiole, tomentose above and below; stem much branched, greenish; erect plant – from low and flat to 1.5+ m and “bushy”; desert areas; several varieties; summer [V Max Brown, 2014] Fewflower Buckwheat USDA Eriogonum pauciflorum Pursh Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) Badlands National Park, Pennington County, South Dakota Notes: flowers of 6 tepals, small, white to pinkish on compound umbels, stamens exerted, small leaf-like bracts at base of main umbel (somewhat cymose-like); leaves with stem sheaths up to 5 cm, linear to narrowly lanceolate, wooly hairy (tomentose), occurring mainly on the lower half of stem; stems spreading to erect (matted), thin, white wooly hairy (tomentose); late spring to summer [V Max Brown, 2014] Redroot Buckwheat USDA Eriogonum racemosum Nutt. Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) Near Pagosa Springs, Archoleta County, Colorado Notes: flowers of 6 tepals, small, white to pinkish, stamens exerted, at nodes on raceme-like spike; leaves basal, hairy to somewhat glabrous, elliptical to ovate, entire, with long petiole; stem wooly, green; highly variable species; summer to fall [V Max Brown, 2017] Sulphur [-Flower] USDA Buckwheat Eriogonum umbellatum Torr. Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) Near Fraser, Grand County, Colorado Notes: flowers of 6 tepals, small, yellowish (often pale to whitish or pinkish tinted – matures reddish), on compound umbels, leaf-like bracts at base of main umbel; leaves spatulate, wooly hairy below; many varieties (FNA lists 41 varieties); summer to fall [V Max Brown, 2012] Buckwheat USDA Fagopyrum esculentum Moench (Introduced) Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) Maumee River Metroparks, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: annual, erect with stems of 50+ cm; flowers of 5 tepals, in two whorls, white to slightly pinkish to greenish near base, short peduncles, in axial and terminal panicles; leaves triangular to heart- shaped with cordate bases (usually), up to 8+ cm in length, pointed tip, palmate veined, mostly glabrous; stem may have lines or stripes, node sheaths (ocrea) mostly tan (sometimes white), not bristly; 3-angled fruit without wings; summer to fall [V Max Brown, 2020] Alpine Mountain Sorrel USDA Oxyria digyna (L.) Hill Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) Rocky Mountain National Park Notes: tiny flowers of greenish (usually with some red sepals(4) but no petals in panicles; leaves mostly basal, cordate, and glabrous, long stalked; stem glabrous, with small ocrea; fruits winged; montane to alpine environments; summer [V Max Brown, 2012] Coastal [Sand] Jointweed USDA Polygonella articulata (L.) Meisn. Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) Whitefish Point, Chippewa County, Michigan Notes: flower of 5 tepals, white to pink (greenish), 8 stamens, 3 styles, flowers from ocreolae; leaves and stem wiry and jointed with overlapping ocreolae; sandy areas, particularly dunes; late summer to fall [V Max Brown, 2008] Water Smartweed [Knotweed] USDA Polygonum amphibium L. var. stipulaceum Coleman Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) Irwin Prairie State Nature Preserve, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: flowers of tepals (4-6), pink to rose, stamens exserted, crowded on erect and stout spike (sometimes fairly blunt or oblong); leaves oblong to lanceolate, very hairy if terrestrial, glabrous if aquatic; muddy borders, swamps or aquatic; summer to fall (varieties but confusing) [V Max Brown, 2006] Swamp [Longroot; USDA Water] Smartweed Polygonum amphibium L. var. emersum Michx. X Polygonum amphibium L. var. stipulaceum Coleman Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) Maumee Bay State Park, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: intermediate between 2 varieties above – note elongated flower spike, erect nature, lack of floating leaves, some leaves approaching sub-cordate bases; swamps, ditches and wet areas; summer to fall [V Max Brown, 2006] [Oval-Leaved] Dooryard USDA Knotweed Polygonum arenastrum L. (Introduced) Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) University of Toledo Campus, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: flowers of 5 tepals, equal length, greenish with white to reddish margins; leaves ovate- lanceolate, entire, about same length over plant; somewhat erect to prostrate plant; summer to fall (a very difficult and confusing group, ID tentative) [V Max Brown, 2006] Bottom Halberd-Leaved Tearthumb USDA Polygonum arifolium L. Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) Waterloo Recreation Area, Washtenaw County, Michigan Notes: flowers of tepals (4 or rarely 5-6), white (pink or green); leaves hastate (halberd-shaped, basal lobes divergent); stem with abundant downward (retrorse) reflexed prickles; plant often reclining on other plants; wet areas and swamps; summer to fall [V Max Brown, 2009] American Bistort USDA Polygonum bistortoides Pursh Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family) Near Fraser, Grand County, Colorado Notes: flowers white (sometimes with pinkish tint), 5 sepals (no petals); basal leaves lanceolate