Paral / Tongue Of Buffalo
Polygonum chinense
Also known as Chinese Knotweed
- Habit
- Shrub
- Found in India
- Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Paral
Identify Paral by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a shrub habit.
- Confirm leaf shape: Cordate.
- Confirm flower arrangement: Cyme.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Polygonaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Paral.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Polygonum chinense
- Genus
- Polygonum
- Family
- Polygonaceae
- Habit
- Shrub
- Habitat
- Evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- India, Himalayas, China, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal
- Found in India
- Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Maharashtra, Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Ladakh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Bihar, Delhi, Mizoram, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chandigarh, Haryana, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- CordaterecordedHeart-shaped, with a notch at the base.“Its leaves have oval blades, are 4–8 cm long and 3–5 cm wide, with pointed apex and round or nearly cordate base.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Paral itself; the rest are typical of the Polygonaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower arrangement
- CymerecordedA branched cluster where the central/terminal flower opens first.“Its cymes emerge at terminals, and are 5–7 cm long, with small white or pink flowers.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Spike
- Fruit
- Achene
Characters marked “recorded” are for Paral itself; the rest are typical of the Polygonaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Manipuri
- ꯑꯉꯣꯝ ꯌꯦꯟꯁꯤꯜ Angom yensil, ꯂꯩꯕꯨꯡ ꯊꯔꯝ Leibung tharam
- Marathi
- परल Paral
- Assamese
- মধু সোলেংগ Madhu soleng, Kelnap
- Malayalam
- Poovallikodi, Mudanthi, Oduthan, Thiruthanni
- Mizo
- Taham
- Angami
- Garie
- Kannada
- ಸೋರಲೆ Sorale
- Telugu
- మల్లె ముత్యము Malle mutyamu
About Paral
Tongue of buffalo (Polygonum chinense) belongs to the Polygonaceae family, where it grows as a shrub. In India it has been recorded in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and 30 other states. It grows in evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Polygonaceae
Buckwheat/Knotweed family
Paral belongs to the Polygonaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Polygonaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guides