| the plant family Polygonaceae, characterized by herbaceous plants, vines, shrubs, and trees having stems with swollen joints, simple leaves, small, petalless flowers, and fruit in the form of an achene, and including the buckwheat, dock, knotweed, rhubarb, sea grape, and smartweed. |
| buckwheat family | |
noun | |
| a family of plants of order Polygonales chiefly of the north temperate zone; includes the buckwheats [syn: Polygonaceae] |