''Reynoutria multiflora'' (
syn.
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
* In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...
''Fallopia multiflora'' and ''Polygonum multiflorum'') is a species of
flowering plant in the buckwheat family
Polygonaceae native to central and southern
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
It is known by the English common names tuber fleeceflower and Chinese (climbing) knotweed. It is known as ''he shou wu'' in China and East Asia. Another name for the species is ''fo-ti'',
which is a misnomer. The name ''he shou wu'' means 'the black-haired Mr. He'.
It can be difficult to prevent the spread of this vining plant and to remove it once established. The leaves are thin and fragile but the stems, although narrow in diameter, can be very strong.
Description
''Reynoutria multiflora'' is a
herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of t ...
perennial vine growing to tall from a woody
tuber. The
leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
are long and broad, broad arrowhead-shaped, with an entire margin. The
flowers are diameter, white or greenish-white, produced on short, dense
panicle
A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...
s up to long in summer to mid autumn. The
fruit is an
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
long.
Traditional medicine
''Reynoutria multiflora'' is listed in the
Chinese Pharmacopoeia
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
and is one of the most popular perennial
traditional Chinese medicines. Caution must be taken, however, as overconsumption can lead to
toxicity-induced hepatitis.
Chemistry
More than 100 chemical compounds have been isolated from ''Reynoutria multiflora'', and the major components have been determined to be
stilbenes,
quinone
The quinones are a class of organic compounds that are formally "derived from aromatic compounds uch as benzene or naphthalene
Uch ( pa, ;
ur, ), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf ( pa, ;
ur, ; ''"Noble Uch"''), is a historic city in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town founded by Alexand ...
by conversion of an even number of –CH= groups into –C(=O)– groups with any necessary rearrangement of double ...
s,
flavonoid
Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans.
Chemically, flavonoids ...
s, and others. Its extract contains a
stilbene glycoside.
[Grech J. N. , Li Q. , Roufogalis B.D., Duke C.C. Novel Ca2+-ATPase Inhibitors from the Dried Root Tubers of Polygonum multiflorum. J Nat Prod-Lloyda 57(12), 1682-1687, 1994. ]
See also
*
Japanese knotweed
References
External links
line drawing, Flora of China Illustrations vol. 5, fig. 259, 3-5
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q29032482, from2=Q1802551, from3=Q39600409
Polygonoideae
Flora of China
Medicinal plants
Plants described in 1784