A climbing herbaceous perennial vine from a woody tuber, reaching 2–4 m, grown mainly for its twining habit and clusters of small white flowers. Give it a support to climb and a sheltered spot with a deep root run.
Family
Polygonaceae (Buckwheat family)
Grows as
Climber, Bulb
Light
Part shade, Full sun
Water
Water regularly during the growing season and let the top of the soil dry slightly between waterings.
Soil
Well-drained, fertile garden soil or a loam-based potting mix.
Temperature
Hardy in temperate climates; protect tubers from hard freeze in very cold regions.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Toxic
Native range
China to N. Indo-China, Taiwan
Climate
temperate
About
Pleuropterus multiflorus (syns. Fallopia multiflora, Polygonum multiflorum, and Reynoutria multiflora) is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family Polygonaceae native to central and southern China, Hainan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Thailand. It is known by the English common names tuber fleeceflower and Chinese (climbing) knotweed. It is known as he shou wu (何首烏) in China and East Asia. Another name for the species is fo-ti, which is a misnomer.
It can be difficult to prevent the spread of this vine and to remove it once established. The leaves are thin and fragile but the stems, although narrow in diameter, can be very strong.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pleuropterus multiflorus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.