polygonaceous

American  

[pol-ee-guh-ney-shuhs, puh-lig-uh-ney-] / ˌpɒl i gəˈneɪ ʃəs, pəˌlɪg əˈneɪ- /

adjective

1. belonging to the Polygonaceae, the buckwheat family of plants.

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polygonaceous British  

/ pəˌlɪɡə-, ˌpɒlɪɡəˈneɪʃəs /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Polygonaceae, a chiefly N temperate family of plants having a sheathing stipule (ocrea) clasping the stem and small inconspicuous flowers: includes dock, sorrel, buckwheat, knotgrass, and rhubarb

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Etymology

Origin of polygonaceous

1870–75; < New Latin Polygonace ( ae ) ( Polygon ( um ) the type genus (< Greek polýgonon knotgrass, literally, something with many joints; see poly-, knee, -gon) + -aceae -aceae ) + -ous

Example Sentences

The species attack the flowers and anthers of composite and polygonaceous plants, the leaves, culms, and germen of grasses, &c., and are popularly known as “smuts.”

From Fungi: Their Nature and Uses by Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)

A stiff, wiry, leafless polygonaceous plant grows in the shallow depressions of the surface of the ground, which are significantly termed by the squatters "Melon-holes", and abound in the open Box-tree flats.

From Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia : from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, a distance of upwards of 3000 miles, during the years 1844-1845 by Leichhardt, Ludwig

The melon-holes of the box-flats were frequently over-grown with the polygonaceous plant, mentioned at a former occasion; and the small scrub plains were covered with a grey chenopodiaceous plant from three to four feet high.

From Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia : from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, a distance of upwards of 3000 miles, during the years 1844-1845 by Leichhardt, Ludwig