Polygonum plebeium R.Br.

 
  • Family : POLYGONACEAE
    (Buckwheat Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : JANGLI PALAK FAMILY (जंगली पालक फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Polygonaceae
  • Synonym(s) : Polygonum plebeium var. brevifolium Hook.f.
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Polygonum plebeium R.Br.
  • Common name : Small Knotweed
  • Vernacular name :
    • Raktha shanka pushpa (Sanskrit), Chantisaga, Muthisaga (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Herb
  • Habitat : Along lakeshores when water level receded
  • Comments / notes : Occasional on plains to 1500m. Gregarious on river banks and fallow fields
  • Key identification features : Root-stock woody, branches with very short internodes concealed by leaves and stipules
  • Flower, Fruit : December-June
  • Distribution :
    • Karnataka : Belagavi district, Vijayapura (Bijapur) district, Uttara Kannada district
    • Kerala : Kannur district, Wayanad district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Pathanamthitta district
    • Maharashtra : Akola district, Mumbai Suburban district, Mumbai-City district, Nashik district, Pune district, Thane district, Dhule district
    • Uttarakhand : Dehradun
    • Sikkim : Sikkim
    • Himachal Pradesh : Himachal Pradesh
    • Arunachal Pradesh : Arunachal Pradesh
    • Meghalaya : Meghalaya
    • Assam : Assam
    • Nagaland : Nagaland
    • Delhi : Delhi
    • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
    • Jammu and Kashmir : Jammu and Kashmir
    • Mizoram : Mizoram
    • Andaman and Nicobar Islands : Andaman Islands
    • Manipur : Manipur
    • Tripura : Tripura
  • Native : Andaman Islands, Angola, Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Burkina, Cambodia, Cape Provinces, Chad, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Free State, India, Inner Mongolia, Jawa, Kazakhstan, Korea, KwaZulu-Natal, Laos, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, M
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : Tropical & Subtropical Old World
  • Conservation Status : Least Concern (LC)
  • Literature :
    • J.L.Ellis, 1990- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 2
    • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 3
    • R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District
    • R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District
    • H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa
    • N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka
    • IUCN Red List
    • Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (2). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983.of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1.
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
    • N.P. Singh, P. Lakshminarasimhan, S. Karthikeyan & P. V. Prasanna (2001). Flora of Maharashtra state, Dicotyledones. Vol. 2.pp.808. Botanical survey of India, Govt. India.
  • Read more :
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2024). India Flora Online. http://indiafloraonline-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Polygonum plebeium. Downloaded on 17 May 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)

India Distribution

World Distribution

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