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False Buckwheat

Polygonum scandens L.

Polygonaceae (Smartweed Family)

young shoot from underground root

▲ ▼ climbing, twining vines

▲ ▼ close-up of leaves, vine stem

▲ ▼ flowers and fruit

▲ close-up of fruit

False buckwheat: 

·        very similar to wild buckwheat, but is a perennial vine in Missouri with angled stems, instead of rounded  as in wild buckwheat

o       can tell if it is false buckwheat if it emerges from perennial roots in spring, instead of germinating from seed

·        grows larger (longer vines) than wild buckwheat—up to 15-20’ long

·        fruit also more showy than wild buckwheat, since it has wings around edges of seed, rather than just angled fruit with the wild buckwheat

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