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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE BUCKWHEAT FAMILY | |||||||||
| The buckwheats are common in northern temperate regions like Saskatchewan. The roots are fibrous or taproots. The stems can be solid or hollow, lying on the ground, or upright. The stems may be swollen at the nodes. The leaves can be in basal rosettes or basal and alternate on the stem. At the base of the leaf, some species have fused, papery stipules forming a sheath around the stem. The leaf margins may be smooth, round-toothed, wavy, or lobed. The flowers are usually perfect. The perianth is made of tepals instead of separate petals and sepals. The tepals are petal-like and are white, greenish, pinkish, yellowish, or reddish in colour. Each flower has between six and nine stamens. The fruits are yellowish, brown, red, or black. | |||||||||
| CLIMBING FALSE BUCKWHEAT | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Polygonum scandens var. scandens | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Climbing false buckwheat is a twining plant that is up to 5 m long. The herbaceous stem is sharply angled and is hairless or bumpy. The leaves are broadly oval shaped and are heart-shaped at the base with a wavy margin. The stipules at the base of the leaf are fused and tan or brown in colour. The flowers are in unbranched clusters in the axils of the leaves. The tepals are green to white or pinkish in colour. The fruits are dark brown to black and shiny. The wings on the fruit are wavy or crinkled. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Climbing false buckwheat grows in moist shrubland, open woods, clearings, wet shaded shores, and roadsides. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in southwestern and east-central Saskatchewan in the Cypress Upland, Mixed Grassland, Aspen Parkland, Boreal Transition, Mid-Boreal Upland, Mid-Boreal Lowland, and Churchill River Upland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Climbing false buckwheat is threatened because it is rare or uncommon in Saskatchewan. No immediate threats are known but may occur in the future. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY CLIMBING FALSE BUCKWHEAT | |||||||||
| * Are the tepals white, greenish, or pinkish? * Are the wings on the fruit wavy or crinkly? * Are the stipules fused at the base and tan or brown in colour? * Did you find it in southwestern or east-central Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found climbing false buckwheat! | |||||||||
