After Gustav Mühlenbeck (1798–1845) an Alsatian botanist.
Mostly deciduous climbing or scrambling plants with wiry stems. Membranous sheath of stipules soon shed. Male and female plants separate, or uni- and bisexual flowers on same plant. Perianth segments (4)5(6), joined at the base, green to white or even orange-brown (M. gunnii), becoming fleshy and enclosing the fruit. Stamens 8. Stigmas 3. Fruit with 3-angled nut.
Seed or cuttings.
The Australian native plant M. gunnii (Hook. f.) Endl., Coast Lignum, has edible berries.
30 species from temperate S America, New Zealand and Australia and New Guinea.
Source: (1997). Polygonaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.