Kingdom Plantae Family Polygonaceae Scientific name Polygonum polygaloides | Order Caryophyllales Genus Polygonum Rank Species | |
Similar Polygonum shastense, Polygonum minimum, Polygonum douglasii, Polygonum paronychia, Polygonum achoreum | ||
Polygonum polygaloides is a North American species of flowering plants in the buckwheat family known by the common names milkwort knotweed and polygala knotweed. It is native to much of western North America, where it can be found in many types of moist habitat. It is a variable species, usually divided into a number of subspecies.
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Description
Polygonum polygaloides is an annual herb producing slender, wiry green stems 1 to 30 centimeters (0.4-12 inches) in length. The linear or lance-shaped leaves are alternately arranged uniformly along the stem, the ones near the tips of stem branches highly reduced. The leaves have membranous stipules which fuse to form silvery ochrea at the leaf bases. The flowers are mainly located in clusters around the stem tips. They are white, pink, or red, and most remain closed.
Subspecies
Some sources accept the following as subspecies of Polygonum polygaloides, while others regard all but subsp. polygaloides as belonging to a distinct species, P. kelloggii.