genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of flowering plants in the family
Polygonaceae
The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is based on the genus '' Polygonum'', and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1 ...
. about 40 species are accepted. It has been supported as a separate clade by molecular phylogenetic analysis. ''Bistorta'' species are native throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, as far south as Mexico in North America and Thailand in Asia.
Description
Species of ''Bistorta'' are
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...
herbaceous plant
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent wood, woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennial plant, perennials, and nearly all Annual plant, annuals and Biennial plant, biennials.
Definition ...
s. Their roots are fibrous, forming rhizomes. They have erect, unbranched stems. Their leaves are usually longer than wide, mostly basal, but with some arranged alternately on the stems. The
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...
s are spikelike. The individual flowers have five white to purple-pink (rarely red)
tepal
A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...
s. The flowers are bisexual, although the 5–8 stamens are sometimes poorly developed. There are three styles. The fruits are in the form of achenes, that are brown or dark brown, unwinged, and three-angled. The monoploid number of chromosomes, ''x'', is 11 or 12.
Taxonomy
In 1753,
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...
divided up his genus ''
Polygonum
''Polygonum'' is a genus of about 130 species of flowering plant in the buckwheat and knotweed family Polygonaceae. Common names include knotweed and knotgrass (though the common names may refer more broadly to plants from Polygonaceae). In the ...
'' into unranked groups, one of which was ''Bistorta''. In 1754,
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723 – 8 May 1788) was an Italian physician and naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational European" and the "Linnaeus of the Au ...
elevated ''Bistorta'' to a genus.
''Bistorta'' is placed in the subfamily
Polygonoideae
Polygonoideae is a subfamily of plants in the family Polygonaceae. It includes a number of plants that can be highly invasive, such as Japanese knotweed, ''Reynoutria japonica'', and its hybrid with '' R. sachalinensis'', ''R.'' × ''bohemica ...
, tribe Persicarieae, along with the genera ''
Koenigia
:Koenigia'' as described by Philibert Commerçon is a synonym of ''Dombeya.
''Koenigia'' is a genus of plants in the family Polygonaceae. The genus ''Aconogonon'' has been merged into ''Koenigia''.
Description
Species of ''Koenigia'' are annual ...
'' and ''
Persicaria
''Persicaria'' is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the knotweed family, Polygonaceae. Plants of the genus are known commonly as knotweeds or smartweeds.Plants of the World Online accepted the following 42 species.
*''
Bistorta abukumensis
''Bistorta abukumensis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae
The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is ...
'' Yonek., Iketsu & H.Ohashi
*''
Bistorta affinis
''Bistorta affinis'' (synonyms ''Polygonum affine'', ''Persicaria affinis''), the Himalayan bistort, fleece flower, or knotweed, is a species of flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae, native to the Himalayas (Tibet, Nepal, northern India, Pa ...
'' (D.Don) Greene
*''
Bistorta albiflora
''Bistorta'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae. about 40 species are accepted. It has been supported as a separate clade by molecular phylogenetic analysis. ''Bistorta'' species are native throughout much of the Northern ...
'' Miyam. & H.Ohba
*''
Bistorta alopecuroides
''Bistorta'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae. about 40 species are accepted. It has been supported as a separate clade by molecular phylogenetic analysis. ''Bistorta'' species are native throughout much of the Northern ...
'' (Turcz. ex Besser) Kom.
*''
Bistorta amplexicaulis
''Bistorta amplexicaulis'' (synonym ''Persicaria amplexicaulis''), the red bistort or mountain fleece, is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family Polygonaceae, native to China, the Himalayas, and Pakistan. It is a damp-loving herbace ...
'' (D.Don) Greene
*''
Bistorta attenuata
''Bistorta'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae. about 40 species are accepted. It has been supported as a separate clade by Molecular phylogenetics, molecular phylogenetic analysis. ''Bistorta'' species are native through ...
'' Kom.
*''
Bistorta attenuatifolia
''Bistorta'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae. about 40 species are accepted. It has been supported as a separate clade by molecular phylogenetic analysis. ''Bistorta'' species are native throughout much of the Northern ...
Bistorta burmanica
''Bistorta'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae. about 40 species are accepted. It has been supported as a separate clade by molecular phylogenetic analysis. ''Bistorta'' species are native throughout much of the Northern ...
'' Yonek. & H.Ohashi
*''
Bistorta coriacea
''Bistorta'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae. about 40 species are accepted. It has been supported as a separate clade by molecular phylogenetic analysis. ''Bistorta'' species are native throughout much of the Northern ...
Bistorta officinalis
''Bistorta officinalis'' (Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Persicaria bistorta''), known as bistort, common bistort, European bistort or meadow bistort, is a species of flowering plant in the dock family Polygonaceae native plant, native to Europe ...
Bistorta abukumensis
''Bistorta abukumensis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae
The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is ...
''
Beautiful Deosi Flowers.jpg, ''
Bistorta affinis
''Bistorta affinis'' (synonyms ''Polygonum affine'', ''Persicaria affinis''), the Himalayan bistort, fleece flower, or knotweed, is a species of flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae, native to the Himalayas (Tibet, Nepal, northern India, Pa ...
Bistorta amplexicaulis
''Bistorta amplexicaulis'' (synonym ''Persicaria amplexicaulis''), the red bistort or mountain fleece, is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family Polygonaceae, native to China, the Himalayas, and Pakistan. It is a damp-loving herbace ...