Common Name: BUCKWHEAT FAMILY
Habit: Annual to shrub [tree]. Stem: nodes swollen or not. Leaf: simple, basal or cauline, generally alternate; ocreae present or 0, generally scarious, persistent or not. Inflorescence: flower clusters in axillary to terminal cyme-, panicle-, raceme-, spike-, umbel- or head-like arrangements, entire inflorescence or main inflorescence branches generally subtended by bracts ("inflorescence bracts"); peduncles present or 0; flower clusters in Eriogoneae-Eriogonoideae subtended by involucre of >= 1 free or +- fused, sometimes awn-tipped bracts ("involucre bracts") or, in Polygonoideae and rarely in Eriogonoideae, not (if bracts completely fused, involucre "tubular"); pedicels in Eriogoneae each often subtended by 2 free, transparent, linear bractlets or in Polygonoideae all subtended by 2+ fused, membranous, wide bractlets. Flower: generally bisexual, small, 1--200 per node; perianth parts 2--6, generally in 2 whorls, free or basally fused, generally petal-like, often +- concave adaxially, often darker at midvein, often turning +- red or +- brown in age; stamens [1]3 or 6--9 in 2 whorls; ovary superior, 1-chambered, ovule 1, styles 1--3. Fruit: achenes, included in or exserted from perianth, generally 3-angled, ovoid or elliptic, generally glabrous.
Genera In Family: 48 genera, +- 1200 species: worldwide, especially northern temperate; some cultivated for food (Coccoloba, sea-grape; Fagopyrum, Rheum, Rumex) or ornamental (Antigonon, lovechain; Coccoloba; Muehlenbeckia; Persicaria; Polygonum), a few timbered (Coccoloba; Triplaris). Several (Emex; Fallopia; Persicaria; Polygonum; Rumex) are weeds. Note: Treatment of genera in Eriogonoideae based on monographic work of James L. Reveal. Involucre number throughout is number (1--many) per ultimate grouping, at tips of ultimate branches; flower number is per flower cluster or involucre, unless otherwise stated. Fagopyrum esculentum Moench not naturalized, considered an historical waif (or garden weed +- presently), therefore not treated.
eFlora Treatment Author: Mihai Costea, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti, Bruce G. Baldwin.

Habit: Annual, perennial herb, vine or not. Stem: erect, trailing, or twining, glabrous or hairy, ribs 0. Leaf: cauline, alternate, petioled; ocrea persistent or not, cylindric, papery, opaque; blade broad-ovate to triangular, entire. Inflorescence: axillary, terminal, spike-, panicle-, or raceme-like; flowers 3--7; peduncle present or 0. Flower: bisexual or pistillate (1 kind per pl); perianth generally enlarging, bell-shaped, pale green or white to pink, glabrous, base stalk-like, parts 5, fused basally or +- completely, of 2 kinds, outer 3 generally winged, > inner 2; stamens 6--8, filaments free, wider basally, glabrous or hairy, anthers yellow to pink or red, ovate to elliptic; styles 3, spreading, fused basally or +- completely, stigmas head-like, fringed, or peltate. Fruit: included or exserted, 3-angled, brown to black. Seed: embryo straight.
Etymology: (for Gabriele Fallopio, 1523--1562, Italian professor of anatomy, botany, and surgery, for whom Fallopian tubes also named)
eFlora Treatment Author: Mihai Costea