Bistorta
Genus of flowering plants in the knotweed family, Polygonaceae
title: "Bistorta" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bistorta", "polygonaceae-genera"] description: "Genus of flowering plants in the knotweed family, Polygonaceae" topic_path: "general/bistorta" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bistorta" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of flowering plants in the knotweed family, Polygonaceae ::
|image = Polygonum bistorta 03.jpg |image_caption = Bistorta officinalis in Japan |taxon = Bistorta |authority = (L.) Scop. |type_species = |type_species_authority = |synonyms_ref = |synonyms = |Colubrina|Montandon
Bistorta is a genus of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae. about 40 species are accepted. It has been supported as a separate clade by molecular phylogenetic analysis. Bistorta species are native throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, as far south as Mexico in North America and Thailand in Asia.
Description
Species of Bistorta are perennial herbaceous plants. Their roots are fibrous, forming rhizomes. They have erect, unbranched stems. Their leaves are usually longer than wide, mostly basal, but with some arranged alternately on the stems. The inflorescences are spikelike. The individual flowers have five white to purple-pink (rarely red) tepals. The flowers are bisexual, although the 5–8 stamens are sometimes poorly developed. There are three styles. The fruits are in the form of achenes, that are brown or dark brown, unwinged, and three-angled. The monoploid number of chromosomes, x, is 11 or 12.
Taxonomy
In 1753, Carl Linnaeus divided up his genus Polygonum into unranked groups, one of which was Bistorta. In 1754, Giovanni Antonio Scopoli elevated Bistorta to a genus.
Bistorta is placed in the subfamily Polygonoideae, tribe Persicarieae, along with the genera Koenigia and Persicaria. A 2015 molecular phylogenetic study suggested that the tribes in Polygonoideae were related as shown in the following cladogram. |label1=Polygonoideae |1={{clade |1=Oxygoneae |2={{clade |1=Persicarieae (Bistorta, Koenigia, Persicaria) |2={{clade |1=Fagopyreae |2={{clade |1=Pteroxygoneae |2={{clade |1=Calligoneae |2={{clade |1=Rumiceae |2=Polygoneae Within the tribe Persicarieae, Bistorta is most closely related to Koenigia: |label1=Persicarieae |1={{clade |1=Persicaria |2={{clade |1=Bistorta |2=Koenigia
Species
, Plants of the World Online accepted the following 44 species and one natural hybrid. | Bistorta abukumensis | Yonek., Iketsu & H.Ohashi | Bistorta affinis | (D.Don) Greene | Bistorta albiflora | Miyam. & H.Ohba | Bistorta alopecuroides | (Turcz. ex Kom.) Nakai | Bistorta amplexicaulis | (D.Don) Greene | Bistorta arunachalensis | M.Das & S.S.Dash | Bistorta attenuata | Kom. | Bistorta attenuatifolia | Miyam. & H.Ohba | Bistorta bistortoides | (Pursh) Small | Bistorta burmanica | Yonek. & H.Ohashi | Bistorta carnea | (K.Koch) Kom. | Bistorta coriacea | (Sam.) Yonek. & H.Ohashi | Bistorta diopetes | H.Ohba & S.Akiyama | Bistorta elliptica | (Willd. ex Spreng.) V.V.Petrovsky, D.F.Murray & Elven | Bistorta emodi | (Meisn.) H.Hara | Bistorta griersonii | Yonek. & H.Ohashi | Bistorta griffithii | (Hook.f.) Grierson | Bistorta hayachinensis | (Makino) H.Gross | Bistorta honanensis | (H.W.Kung) Yonek. & H.Ohashi | Bistorta incana | (Nakai) T.Mori | Bistorta jaljalensis | H.Ohba & S.Akiyama | Bistorta krascheninnikovii | N.A.Ivanova | Bistorta longispicata | Yonek. & H.Ohashi | Bistorta ludlowii | Yonek. & H.Ohashi | Bistorta macrophylla | (D.Don) Soják | Bistorta manshuriensis | (Petrov ex Kom.) Kom. | Bistorta milletii | H.Lév. | Bistorta milletioides | H.Ohba & S.Akiyama | Bistorta ochotensis | Kom. | Bistorta officinalis | Delarbre | Bistorta perpusilla | (Hook.f.) Greene | Bistorta plumosa | (Small) Greene | Bistorta purpureonervosa | (A.J.Li) Yonek. & H.Ohashi | Bistorta × rhaetica | (Brügger) Dostál | Bistorta rubra | Yonek. & H.Ohashi | Bistorta sherei | H.Ohba & S.Akiyama | Bistorta sinomontana | (Sam.) Miyam. | Bistorta subscaposa | (Diels) Petrov | Bistorta suffulta | (Maxim.) Greene ex H.Gross | Bistorta tenuicaulis | (Bisset & S.Moore) Nakai | Bistorta tenuifolia | (H.W.Kung) Miyam. & H.Ohba | Bistorta tubistipulis | Miyam. & H.Ohba | Bistorta vacciniifolia | (Wall. ex Meisn.) Greene | Bistorta vivipara | (L.) Delarbre | Bistorta yunnanensis | H.Gross
Bistorta abukumensis 5.JPG|Bistorta abukumensis Beautiful Deosi Flowers.jpg|Bistorta affinis Bistorta amplexicaulis Polygonium amplexicaule HabitusInflorescences BotGardBln0906a.jpg|Bistorta amplexicaulis Bistorta bistortoides, Western bistort, Yosemite.jpg|Bistorta bistortoides Bistorta macrophylla Tawang.jpg|Bistorta macrophylla Bistorta vivipara T57.jpg|Bistorta vivipara
References
References
- "Plant Name Details for ''Bistorta'' (L.) Scop.". [[International Plant Names Index.
- (2025). "''Bistorta'' (L.) Scop.".
- (2009). "A large-scale phylogeny of Polygonaceae based on molecular data". International Journal of Plant Sciences.
- (2015). "An updated molecular phylogeny of Polygonoideae (Polygonaceae): Relationships of ''Oxygonum'', ''Pteroxygonum'', and ''Rumex'', and a new circumscription of ''Koenigia''". Taxon.
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