Browse => Angiosperms: Dicotyledons => Polygonaceae

The species are presented in order by family and within families by genus. Pteridophytes, the ferns and fern allies, are first, followed by the flowering plants, dicots first and then monocots.

Polygonaceae - Smartweed Family
The smartweed or knotweed family has small flowers clustered into a tight to loose elongated inflorescence. The colored or white sepals (there are no petals) closely overlap and the flower remains essentially closed. Tiny black seeds develop within the fruits. The leaves are distinctive in having a basal sheath of tissue (ocrea) that encircles the stem, which is swollen at each node (hence the name knotweed). Often the upper margin of the ocrea is useful in identifying the various species.