Editing Polygonaceae (section)

{{Short description|Knotweed family of flowering plants}}
{{automatic taxobox
| image = Polygonum persicaria bgiu.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Persicaria maculosa]]''
| taxon = Polygonaceae
| authority = [[Antoine Laurent de Jussieu|Juss.]]<ref name="apgiii"/>
| subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies
| subdivision = {{unbulleted list
|[[Polygonoideae]]
|[[Eriogonoideae]]
 }}
}}
The '''Polygonaceae''' are a [[Family (biology)|family]] of [[flowering plant]]s known [[Common name|informally]] as the '''knotweed family''' or '''smartweed—buckwheat family''' in the United States. The [[Botanical name|name]] is [[Basionym|based]] on the [[genus]] ''[[Polygonum]]'', and was first used by [[Antoine Laurent de Jussieu]] in 1789 in his book, ''Genera Plantarum''.<ref name="Jussieu1789">Antoine Laurent de Jussieu. 1789. ''Genera plantarum: secundum ordines naturales disposita, juxta methodum in Horto regio parisiensi exaratam''. page 82. Herrisant and Barrois: Paris, France. (see ''External links'' below)</ref> The name may refer to the many swollen [[Node (botany)|nodes]] the stems of some species have, being [[Etymology|derived]] from [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] [''poly'' meaning 'many' and ''gony'' meaning 'knee' or 'joint']. Alternatively, it may have a different origin, meaning 'many seeds'.<ref name="FNA">{{cite book |first1=Mihai |last1=Costea |first2=François J. |last2=Tardif |first3=Harold R. |last3=Hinds |contribution=Polygonum |contribution-url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=126398 |access-date=2019-05-10 |name-list-style=amp |editor-last=Flora of North America Editorial Committee <!-- |year=1982 onwards --> |title=Flora of North America ''(online)'' |publisher=eFloras.org |archive-date=2021-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506031259/http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=126398 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Polygonaceae comprise about 1200 [[species]]<ref name="mabberley2008">David J. Mabberley. 2008. ''Mabberley's Plant-Book'' third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK. {{ISBN|978-0-521-82071-4}}</ref> distributed into about 48 genera.<ref name="Christenhusz-Byng2016">{{cite journal |author1=Christenhusz, M. J. M. |author2=Byng, J. W. |year=2016 |title=The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase |journal=Phytotaxa |volume=261 |pages=201–217 |url=http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/download/phytotaxa.261.3.1/20598 |doi=10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1 |issue=3 |publisher=Magnolia Press |doi-access=free |access-date=2016-07-14 |archive-date=2016-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729085754/http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/download/phytotaxa.261.3.1/20598 |url-status=live }}</ref> The largest genera are ''[[Eriogonum]]'' (240 species), ''[[Rumex]]'' (200 species), ''[[Coccoloba]]'' (120 species), ''[[Persicaria]]'' (100 species) and ''[[Calligonum]]'' (80 species).<ref name="freeman2005">Craig C. Freeman and James L. Reveal. 2005. "Polygonaceae" pages 216-601. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (editors).  ''Flora of North America'' vol. 5. Oxford University Press: New York, NY, USA. {{ISBN|978-0-19-522211-1}} (see ''External links'' below)</ref><ref name="brandbyge1993">John Brandbyge. 1993. "Polygonaceae". pages 531-544. In: Klaus Kubitzki (editor); Jens G. Rohwer, and Volker Bittrich (volume editors). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume II. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg, Germany {{ISBN|978-3-540-55509-4}} (Berlin) {{ISBN|978-0-387-55509-6}} (New York)</ref> The family is present worldwide, but is most [[Biodiversity|diverse]] in the [[North Temperate Zone]].

Several species are [[Horticulture|cultivated]] as [[Ornamental plant|ornamentals]].<ref name="rhs">[[Anthony Huxley]], Mark Griffiths, and Margot Levy (1992). ''The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening''. The Macmillan Press,Limited: London. The Stockton Press: New York. {{ISBN|978-0-333-47494-5}} (set).</ref> A few species of ''[[Triplaris]]'' provide [[lumber]].<ref name="mabberley2008"/> The fruit of the sea grape (''[[Coccoloba uvifera]]'') is eaten, and in [[Florida]], [[Fruit preserves|jelly]] is made from it and sold commercially.<ref name="staples2005">George W. Staples and Derral R. Herbst "A Tropical Garden Flora" Bishop Museum Press: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. (2005)</ref> The seeds of two species of ''[[Fagopyrum]]'', known as [[buckwheat]], are eaten in the form of [[groats]] or used to make flour. The [[Petiole (botany)|petioles]] of [[rhubarb]] (''[[Rheum rhabarbarum]]'' and hybrids) are a food item. The leaves of the common [[sorrel]] (''[[Rumex acetosa]]'') are eaten in [[salad]]s or as a [[leaf vegetable]].<ref name="heywood2007">Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Books: Ontario, Canada. (2007). {{ISBN|978-1-55407-206-4}}.</ref>

Polygonaceae contain some of the most prolific [[Ruderal species|weeds]], including species of ''Persicaria, Rumex'' and ''Polygonum'', as well as [[Japanese knotweed]].<ref name="mabberley2008"/>