Koenigia

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Ordo: Caryophyllales

Familia: Polygonaceae
Subfamilia: Polygonoideae
Tribus: Persicarieae
Subtribus: Koenigiinae
Genus: Koenigia
Species: K. alaskana – K. alpina – K. binsarii – K. campanulata – K. cathayana – K. chuanzangensis – K. coriaria – K. cyanandra – K. davisiae – K. delicatula – K. divaricata – K. fertilis – K. filicaulis – K. forrestii – K. hedbergii – K. hookeri – K. islandica – K. jurii – K. lichiangensis – K. limosa – K. mollis – K. nepalensis – K. nummularifolia – K. ocreata – K. panjutinii – K. phytolaccifolia – K. pilosa – K. polystachya – K. relicta – K. rumicifolia – K. songarica – K. tortuosa – K. tripterocarpa – K. weyrichii – K. yatagaiana

Nothospecies: K. x fennica
Name

Koenigia L. Mant. Pl. 3, 35. (1767)

Type species: Koenigia islandica L. Mant. Pl. 3, 35. (1767)

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Aconogonon (Meisn.) Rchb., Handb. Nat. Pfl.-Syst.: 236. (1837)
Type species: Aconogonon divaricatum (L.) Nakai (designated by Roberty & Vautier in Boissiera 10: 40. 1964)
Polygonum sect. Aconogonon Meisn., Monogr. Polyg.: 55. (1826)
Type species: Polygonum divaricatum L.
Macounastrum Small in Britton & Brown, Ill. Fl. N.U.S. 1: 541. (1896) nom. illeg.
Pleuropteropyrum H.Gross in Bull. Géogr. Bot. 23: 8. (1913)
Type species: Pleuropteropyrum weyrichii (F.Schmidt) H.Gross (designated by Roberty & Vautier in Boissiera 10: 53. 1964) (≡ Polygonum weyrichii F.Schmidt).
Rubrivena M.Král in Preslia 57: 65–66. (1985)
Type species: Rubrivena polystachya (Wall. ex Meisn.)M.Král

References

Linnaeus, C. von 1767. Mantissa Plantarum. Generum Editionis vi et Specierum Editionis ii. 3. 35.
Fan, D.M., Chen, J.H., Meng, Y., Wen, J., Huang, J.L. & Yang, Y.P. 2013. Molecular phylogeny of Koenigia L. (Polygonaceae: Persicarieae): implications for classification, character evolution and biogeography. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 69(3): 1093-1100. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2013.08.018 Full text PDF from ResearchGate Reference page.
Hassler, M. 2017. Koenigia. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2017. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2017 Mar. 21. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2017. Koenigia. Published online. Accessed: Mar. 13 2017.
Li, B., Chen, S., Li, Y., Wang, D.X. & Du, W. 2016. Koenigia hedbergii (Polygonaceae: Persicarieae), a distinct new species from Shennongjia National Nature Reserve, Central China. Phytotaxa 272(2): 115–124. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.272.2.2. Reference page.
Schuster, T.M., Reveal, J.L., Bayly, M.J. & Kron, K.A. 2015. An updated molecular phylogeny of Polygonoideae (Polygonaceae): Relationships of Oxygonum, Pteroxygonum, and Rumex, and a new circumscription of Koenigia. Taxon 64(6): 1188–1208. DOI: 10.12705/646.5 JSTOR ResearchGate Reference page.

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Berg-Knöteriche
English: Knotweed, Knotgrass, Tear Thumb, Mile-a-minute
español: Polígono, Hierba de Santa María, Hierba Pejiguera, Palero, Pata de Perdiz, Correquetepillo, Vid Rusa, Parra Rusa
suomi: Kurjentattaret
français: Renouée
italiano: Poligono
日本語: オンタデ属
한국어: 싱아속
Nederlands: Varkensgras
norsk: Hønsegress
polski: Rdest
русский: Аконогонон, Таран
Türkçe: Madımak, Çobanekmeği

Koenigia is a genus of plants in the family Polygonaceae. The genus Aconogonon has been merged into Koenigia.

Description

Species of Koenigia are annual or perennial herbaceous plants, growing from taproots. The flowers are arranged in terminal or axillary inflorescences. The flowers have pale tepals: white, greenish to yellowish white or pink. The seeds are borne in achenes that are usually brown or black in colour and not winged.[2]
Taxonomy

The genus Koenigia was erected by Carl Linnaeus in 1767, initially for the type species Koenigia islandica.[2] The boundaries between genera in the family Polygonaceae, and the relationships among them, have long been a problem. At one time, many species were placed in the genus Polygonum. Koenigia is placed in the subfamily Polygonoideae, tribe Persicarieae, whose taxonomic history has been described as "exceptionally convoluted, even by Polygonaceae standards".[2]

A molecular phylogenetic study of the subfamily Polygonoideae in 2015 showed that the genus Koenigia was polyphyletic with respect to the genus Aconogonon. An earlier study had reached a similar conclusion, and had suggested that extra genera be created to maintain monophyletic taxa.[3] The authors of the 2015 study preferred the alternative of merging the two genera,[2] a proposal accepted by other sources.[1] Using broad circumscriptions of the genera, the 2015 study suggested that relationships within the tribe Persicarieae were:[2]

Persicarieae	Persicaria (comprising sections Echinocaulon, Tovara and Cephalophilon)       Bistorta     Koenigia (including Aconogonon)

 
 
Species

As of February 2019, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:[1]

Koenigia alaskana (Small) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia alpina (All.) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia campanulata (Hook.f.) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia cathayana (A.J.Li) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia chuanzangensis Z.Z.Zhou & Y.J.Min
Koenigia coriaria (Grig.) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia cyanandra (Diels) Mesícek & Soják
Koenigia davisiae (W.H.Brewer ex A.Gray) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia delicatula (Meisn.) H.Hara
Koenigia divaricata (L.) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia × fennica f(Reiersen) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia fertilis Maxim.
Koenigia filicaulis (Wall. ex Meisn.) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia forrestii (Diels) Mesícek & Soják
Koenigia hedbergii Bo Li & W.Du
Koenigia hookeri (Meisn.) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia islandica L.
Koenigia jurii (A.K.Skvortsov) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia lichiangensis (W.W.Sm.) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia limosa (Kom.) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia mollis (D.Don) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia nepalensis D.Don
Koenigia nummularifolia (Meisn.) Mesícek & Soják
Koenigia ocreata (L.) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia panjutinii (Kharkev.) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia phytolaccifolia (Meisn. ex Small) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia pilosa Maxim.
Koenigia polystachya (Wall. ex Meisn.) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia relicta (Kom.) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia rumicifolia (Royle ex Bab.) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia songarica (Schrenk) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia tortuosa (D.Don) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia tripterocarpa (A.Gray) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia weyrichii (F.Schmidt) T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Koenigia yatagaiana (T.Mori) T.C.Hsu & S.W.Chung

Distribution and habitat

Koenigia species are found in meadows, along stream banks, or on rocky slopes in arctic, temperate and alpine regions of the Northern Hemisphere.[3]
References

"Koenigia L.", Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2019-02-24
Schuster, Tanja M.; Reveal, James L.; Bayly, Michael J. & Kron, Kathleen A. (2015), "An updated molecular phylogeny of Polygonoideae (Polygonaceae): Relationships of Oxygonum, Pteroxygonum, and Rumex, and a new circumscription of Koenigia", Taxon, 64 (6): 1188–1208, doi:10.12705/646.5
Fan, D.-M.; Chen, J.-H.; Meng, Y.; Wen, J.; Huang, J.-L. & Yang, Y.-P. (2013), "Molecular phylogeny of Koenigia L. (Polygonaceae: Persicarieae): Implications for classification, character evolution and biogeography.", Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 69 (3): 1093–1100, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2013.08.018, PMID 23994356