''Muehlenbeckia'' or maidenhair is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the family

Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants known Common name, informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The Botanical name, name is Basionym, based on the genus ''Polygonum'', ...

. It is native to the borders of the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

, including

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

. It has been introduced elsewhere, including Europe. Species vary in their growth habits, many being vines or shrubs. In some environments, rampant species can become

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...

y and difficult to eradicate.

Description

Species of ''Muehlenbeckia'' vary considerably in their growth habits; they may be

perennials In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

like, or

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s. All have

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

roots. Their leaves are arranged alternately on the stem, usually with stalks ( petioles), but sometimes stalkless (sessile). The brownish ocrea is short and tubular, soon disintegrating. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s may be terminal or axillary, and are in the form of spikes or clusters, with at most very short peduncles (flowering stems). Individual flowers have

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branch ...

(stalks). The flowers may be bisexual or unisexual, with sometimes a mixture of staminate, pistillate and bisexual flowers on the same plant. There are five white to greenish white

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, joined at the base. Staminate flowers have 8 (sometimes 9)

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s and a rudimentary

pistil Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl (botany), whorl of a flower; it consists ...

. Pistillate flowers have rudimentary stamens and three spreading styles. The fruit is in the form of a black or dark brown unwinged

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple fruit, simple dry fruits, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and Dehi ...

, three-sided to more or less globe-shaped, at least partly enclosed by the persistent tepals.

Taxonomy

The genus was erected by

Carl Meissner Carl Daniel Friedrich Meissner (1 November 1800 – 2 May 1874) was a Swiss botanist. Biography Born in Bern, Switzerland on 1 November 1800, he was christened Meisner but later changed the spelling of his name to Meissner. For most of his 40 ...

in 1841, initially for two species that he distinguished from '' Coccoloba'' and ''

Polygonum ''Polygonum'' is a genus of about 130 species of flowering plants 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 ...

''. The generic name honours Alsatian bryologist Heinrich Gustav Mühlenbeck (1798–1845). ''Muehlenbeckia'' is placed in the tribe Polygoneae of 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' ...

. Within the tribe, it is most closely related to the genera '' Reynoutria'' and '' Fallopia'' s.s., forming the so-called "RMF clade".

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

recognized 24 species (see note below): * '' Muehlenbeckia adpressa'' (Labill.) Meisn. – climbing lignum, shrubby creeper, pohuehue (see note below) * '' Muehlenbeckia andina'' Brandbyge * ''

Muehlenbeckia astonii ''Muehlenbeckia astonii'', commonly known as the shrubby tororaro, is an Endemism, endemic New Zealand shrub in the family Polygonaceae. It is found in both the North Island, North and the South Islands and has distinctive small heart-shaped de ...

'' Petrie – shrubby tororaro, wiggy-wig bush * '' Muehlenbeckia australis'' (G.Forst.) Meisn. (see note below) * '' Muehlenbeckia axillaris'' (Hook. f.) Walp. – sprawling wirevine * '' Muehlenbeckia complexa'' (A. Cunn.) Meisn. – maidenhair vine, creeping wire vine, lacy wire vine, mattress vine, mattress wire weed, necklace vine, wire vine * '' Muehlenbeckia diclina'' (F.Muell.) F.Muell. – slender lignum * '' Muehlenbeckia ephedroides'' (Hook. f.) Hook. f. – leafless pohuehue or leafless muehlenbeckia * '' Muehlenbeckia fruticulosa'' (Walp.) Standl. * '' Muehlenbeckia gracillima'' Meisn. * '' Muehlenbeckia gunnii'' (Hook.f.) Endl. – coastal lignum * '' Muehlenbeckia hastulata'' (Sm.) I.M. Johnst. – wirevine * '' Muehlenbeckia monticola'' Pulle * '' Muehlenbeckia nummularia'' H.Gross * '' Muehlenbeckia platyclada'' (F.Muell.) Meisn. * '' Muehlenbeckia polybotrya'' Meisn. * '' Muehlenbeckia rhyticarya'' Benth. * '' Muehlenbeckia sagittifolia'' Meisn. * '' Muehlenbeckia tamnifolia'' (Kunth) Meisn. * '' Muehlenbeckia tiliifolia'' Wedd. * '' Muehlenbeckia triloba'' Danser * '' Muehlenbeckia tuggeranong'' Mallinson – Tuggeranong lignum * '' Muehlenbeckia urubambensis'' Brandbyge * '' Muehlenbeckia volcanica'' (Benth.) Endl. * '' Muehlenbeckia zippelii'' (Meisn.) Danser Some sources, including

, regard ''M. adpressa'' as a synonym of ''M. australis''. Others treat them as separate species. Three species have been transferred to the genus ''

Duma A duma () is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were formed across Russia ...

'': * ''Muehlenbeckia coccoloboides'' J.M.Black → '' Duma coccoloboides'' * ''Muehlenbeckia florulenta'' Meisn. – tangled lignum → '' Duma florulenta'' * ''Muehlenbeckia horrida'' H.Gross → '' Duma horrida''

Distribution

;Native: :

: ::Australia:

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, Victoria,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

::New Zealand:

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ; Moriori language, Moriori: , 'Misty Sun'; ) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island, administered as part of New Zealand, and consisting of about 10 islands within an approxima ...

, New Zealand North, New Zealand South ::Papuasia:

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

Neotropic The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...

: ::Central America:

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

::Southern South America:

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Invasiveness

All members of the RMF clade appear to have the potential to become invasive, in some cases via vigorous hybrids. The highly invasive Japanese knotweed (''

Reynoutria japonica ''Reynoutria japonica'', synonyms ''Fallopia japonica'' and ''Polygonum cuspidatum'', is a species of herbaceous perennial plant in the knotweed and buckwheat family Polygonaceae. Common names include Japanese knotweed and Asian knotweed. It is ...

'') hybridizes with '' Muehlenbeckia australis''. The related '' Muehlenbeckia complexa'' has established populations in southern parts of Britain and in the Channel Islands, and is a problematic invasive species in the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

area.

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control Polygonaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Meissner