金荞 jin qiao

Polygonum dibotrys D. Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal. 73. 1825; ?Fagopyrum acutatum (Lehmann) Mansfeld ex K. Hammer; Fagopyrum cymosum (Treviranus) Meisner; F. megaspartanium Q. F. Chen; F. pilus Q. F. Chen; ?P. acutatum Lehmann; P. cymosum Treviranus; P. labordei H. Léveillé & Vaniot; P. tristachyum H. Léveillé; P. volubile Turczaninow.

Herbs perennial. Rhizomes black-brown, stout, ligneous. Stems erect, green or brownish, 40-100 cm tall, much branched, striate, glabrous. Petiole 2-10 cm; leaf blade triangular, 4-12 × 3-11 cm, both surfaces papillate, base nearly hastate, margin entire, apex acuminate; ocrea brown, 5-10 mm, membranous, oblique, apex truncate, not ciliate. Inflorescence terminal or axillary, corymbose; bracts ovate-lanceolate, ca. 3 mm, margin membranous, apex acute, each 4-flowered, rarely 6-flowered. Pedicels equaling bracts, articulate at middle. Perianth white; tepals narrowly elliptic, ca. 2.5 mm. Stamens included. Styles free; stigmas much exceeding persistent perianth, capitate, opaque. Achenes blackish brown, dull, broadly ovoid, 6-8 mm, trigonous, sometimes narrowly winged, angles smooth to repandous, apex acute. Fl. Apr-Oct, fr. May-Nov. 2n = 24, 32*

Moist valleys, grassy slopes; 300-3200 m. Anhui, Fujian, S Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, India, Kashmir, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim, Vietnam].

This species is used medicinally.