POLYGONACEAE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 
CLIMBING FALSE BUCKWHEAT 
Polygonum scandens L. 
The Climbing False Buckwheat is a common vine in woods 
and thickets throughout most of the eastern half of the United 
States and Canada. It blooms from July to September and is 
usually loaded with fruit in 
autumn. 
The smooth stem is often 20 
feet long, and much like the genus 
Polygonatum, page 59, the many 
joints account for the generic 
name, from the Greek meaning 
knee. It dies to the ground in 
winter but the under- 
ground parts are per- 
ennial. Leaves are 
heart shaped and 
acuminate. 
The yellowish 
green flowers are in 
leafy racemes. There 
is no corolla but there 
is a $-parted calyx 
the 3 outer segments 
of which are strongly 
winged and extend 
down the flower stalk. 
There are 8 stamens and 1 pistil with 3 stigmas and almost no 
style. The fruit is a 3-angled akene which is black or very dark, 
smooth and shining. 
The Black Bindweed, Polygonum Convoloulus L., is a closely 
related but annual plant which is common on cultivated and waste 
ground—a troublesome weed. Its stems are usually not more than 
3 feet long. 
The Water Smartweed, Polygonum Muhlenbergii (Meisn.) Wats., 
bears several to many spikes of rose flowers on leafy stems 2-3 feet 
high. They grow in colonies in muddy or dry places and their under- 
ground stems form such dense mats that a patch once started is 
most difficult to eradicate. 
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