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
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.
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