Fallopia

Fallopia is a genus of about 12–15 species of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae, often included in a wider treatment of the related genus Polygonum in the past. The genus is native to temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The genus includes herbaceous perennial plants, herbaceous vines, and woody vines.

The genus is named after Gabriello Fallopio, or Fallopius, who was the superintendent of the botanical garden at Padua. He was also an acclaimed anatomist, being considered a founder of modern anatomy along with Vesalius and Eustachius.


Species
Fallopia convolvulus - Wild Buckwheat (Fallopia convolvulus) is a fast-growing annual flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae. It is also known as Black Bindweed, Climbing Bindweed, and Corn Bindweed. It is native throughout Europe, Asia and northern Africa. It is a herbaceous vine growing to 1-2 m long, with alternate triangular leaves 2-6 cm long. The basal lobes of the leaves are pointed at the petiole. The flowers are small, and greenish-pink to greenish white, clustered on racemes. These clusters give way to small triangular fruit, with one seed in each fruit. Wild Buckwheat seeds are edible, and were used in the past as a food crop, with remains found in Bronze Age middens. The seeds are too small and low-yielding to make a commercial crop, and it is now more widely considered a weed, occurring in crops, waste areas and roadsides. It is also an invasive species in North America.

Fallopia japonica - Japanese knotweed is a large, herbaceous perennial plant, native to eastern Asia in Japan, China and Korea. In the U.S.A. and Europe the species is very successful and has been classified as invasive in several countries. A member of the family Polygonaceae, Japanese knotweed has hollow stems with distinct raised nodes that give it the appearance of bamboo, though it is not closely related. While stems may reach a maximum height of 3–4 m each growing season, it is typical to see much smaller plants in places where they sprout through cracks in the pavement or are repeatedly cut down. The leaves are broad oval with a truncated base, 7–14 cm long and 5–12 cm broad, with an entire margin. The flowers are small, creamy white, produced in erect racemes 6–15 cm long in late summer and early autumn. Uses: Japanese knotweed flowers are valued by some beekeepers as an important source of nectar for honeybees, at a time of year when little else is flowering. Japanese knotweed yields a monofloral honey, usually called bamboo honey by northeastern U.S. beekeepers, like a mild-flavored version of buckwheat honey.

Fallopia multiflora (Chinese Knotweed) is a species of Fallopia native to central and southern China. It is a herbaceous perennial vine growing to 2–4 m tall from a woody tuber. The leaves are 3–7 cm long and 2–5 cm broad, broad arrowhead-shaped, with an entire margin. The flowers are 6–7 mm diameter, white or greenish-white, produced on short, dense panicles up to 10–20 cm long in summer to mid autumn. The fruit is an achene 2.5–3 mm long.

Fallopia sachalinensis (Giant Knotweed or Sakhalin Knotweed) is a species of Fallopia native to northeastern Asia in northern Japan (Hokkaidō, Honshū) and the far east of Russia (Sakhalin and the southern Kurile Islands). It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 2–4 m tall, with strong, extensively spreading rhizomes forming large clonal colonies. The leaves are 15–40 cm long and 10–28 cm broad, nearly heart-shaped, with a somewhat wavy, crenate margin. The flowers are small, produced on short, dense panicles up to 10 cm long in late summer or early autumn; it is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants. It is closely related to Fallopia japonica, and can be distinguished from it by its larger size, and in its leaves having a heart-shaped (not straight) base and a crenate margin. The shoots are tender and edible. It was introduced to Europe and grown in many botanic gardens. It came prominently into notice about 1893, when a drought in western Europe caused a decided shortage in forage for cattle. This plant was little affected, and since its tender shoots and leaves were eaten by stock, the plant was widely grown experimentally as a forage crop. It has proved less useful than was predicted, and its deliberate cultivation has been almost entirely abandoned. It has however, like F. japonica, proved to be an invasive weed in several areas.

Fallopia dumetorum

Fallopia aubertii

Fallopia scandens

Fallopia dentatoalata

Fallopia cilinodis

Fallopia baldschuanica

Fallopia denticulata

Fallopia pterocarpa

Fallopia cynanchoides

Fallopia forbesii

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