''Polygonum ciliinode'' (

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...

''Fallopia ciliinodis'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

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 ...

, native to central and eastern Canada, and the north-central and eastern United States. The specific epithet is also spelt ''cilinode''.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by

André Michaux André Michaux, also styled Andrew Michaud, (8 March 174611 October 1802) was a French botanist and explorer. He is most noted for his study of North American flora. In addition Michaux collected specimens in England, Spain, France, and even Pe ...

in 1803. Michaux spelt the epithet "''cilinode''". Article 60 of the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' requires the correction of improperly formed "compounding forms", and the

International Plant Names Index The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) describes itself as "a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of species and genus. It inc ...

has corrected it to "''ciliinode''". ''Polygonum ciliinode'' is part of 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'' ...

. However, like many species in the family

, it has been placed in different genera within this group, including in ''

Fallopia ''Fallopia'' is a genus of about 12 species of flowering plants in the buckwheat family, often included in a wider treatment of the related genus ''Polygonum'' in the past, and previously including '' Reynoutria''. The genus is native to temperat ...

'' and '' Reynoutria''. A 2015

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study (in which the species was treated as ''Fallopia cilinodis'') found that it was weakly supported as a sister to the "DAP clade" (see the following cladogram), although

plastid The plastid (Greek: πλαστός; plastós: formed, molded – plural plastids) is a membrane-bound organelle found in the cells of plants, algae, and some other eukaryotic organisms. They are considered to be intracellular endosymbiotic cyanobac ...

data alone placed it in the "RMF clade". The presence of extra-floral nectaries in ''Polygonum ciliinode'' suggests a relationship with the RMF clade, as this is one of the characteristics of the clade. Its relationships remain unsettled; it may represent an as-yet-unrecognized lineage in the Polygoneae.

References

ciliinode Flora of Western Canada Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the Southeastern United States Plants described in 1803 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Polygonaceae-stub