Buckwheat Family :

Polygonaceae (pol-i-go-NA-see-ee)

Iconic Features

Description (Jepson)

Eudicotyledons (eudicots) – a major lineage of flowering plants including most plants traditionally described as dicots and generally characterized by
- 2 seed leaves (dicotyledon)
- Netted (reticulate) leaf venation
- Flower parts in fours and fives
- Pollen grains with 3 pores (tricolpate)
- Vascular bundles in stem arranged in a ring
- Taproot system
Mostly herbaceous plants
- Annuals, perennials, and shrubs
Stem nodes (joints) often swollen
- Generally with a scarious sheath around the stem
  - Formed by the fusion of papery stipules (leaf-like structures at the base of the leaf stalk), called ochrea
Leaves
- Simple (not divided into leaflets) and entire (with smooth edges)
- Usually alternate (1 leaf at each junction with stem)
- Attached to stem nodes or basal
- Sometimes with papery stipules
Flowers
- Inflorescence (flower arrangement) in a variety of dense clusters
  - Sometimes held in cup- or vase-shaped bracts (modified leaves)
- Tiny, generally bisexual, radially-symmetric flowers
  - 2-3 petals and 2-3 sepals (outer flower parts), in 2 separate whorls, similar in appearance and collectively called tepals
  - May be green, cream, white, yellow, pink, or red
    - Tepals often persist and age to red or brown
- Ovary superior (above the attachment of other flower parts)
Fruit is an achene (a single-seeded, dry fruit that does not split open), usually 3-angled
- Sometimes with thin, flat margins (wings), which aid in dispersal by catching a ride on a breeze

Notes

Approximately 1,200 species, mostly in the northern hemisphere
- Includes rhubarb, docks, sorrels, and buckwheats
- Many species adapted to high elevations and dry, cold climates
Many species are astringent or highly toxic due to tannic and oxalic acids and anthraquinone glycosides
- Stems of rhubarb (Reum rhabarbarum) are edible, but the leaves contain toxins, e.g. oxalic acid, which can cause kidney damage
Buckwheats in the genus Fagopyrum have been cultivated for thousands of years for use as pseudocereals
- Common crop in the US before nitrogen fertilizer in the 20th century allowed corn and wheat to become dominant (Myers 2018)
- Flour used for noodles, like soba, in many Asian cuisines and for traditional Russian blinis, French crepes, and Dutch pancakes
- Hulled, unground seeds, a type of groats, are used for porridge
- Accommodate some dietary or cultural restrictions that prohibit the eating of wheat
Scientific name from the Greek poly, “many,” and gónato, “knee,” referring to the swollen stem nodes (joints) characteristic of this family
Common name from Old English for “beech-wheat”
- 3-sided seeds resemble beechnuts
- Though not related to wheats, which are in the Grass family, the seeds of some buckwheats are ground into meal or flour
- Also known as the Knotweed family
Represented by 11 species at Edgewood

Specific References

Myers, R. 2018, Dec. Growing buckwheat for grain or cover crop use. Extension: University of Missouri.

General References

Calflora Database. 2014. Berkeley, California.

Calscape. 2018. California Native Plant Society.

Corelli, T. 2004. Flowering Plants of Edgewood Natural Preserve (2nd. ed.). Monocot Press, Half Moon Bay, California.

Elpel, T.J. 2013. Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification. HOPS Press, Pony, Montana.

Harris, J.G., and M.W. Harris. 2013. Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary. Spring Lake Publishing, Spring Lake, Utah.

Keator, G. 2009. California Plant Families. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.

Regents of the University of California. Jepson eFlora. Jepson Herbarium. University of California, Berkeley.

Browse Some Edgewood Plants in this Family