BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 



A would-be tall but in reality a sprawling plant, with 

 narrow, very long entire leaves, and withered, papery 

 sheaths at the joints. The flowers usually pink, are 

 crowded in thick cylinders. 



POLYGONACE^E BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 



Polygonum Persicaria, L. 



Crimson-pink Lady's Thumb, 



or deep magenta Spotted Knotweed, 



Hear tweed. 

 June-October 



Polygonum: for derivation see acre. 



Persicaria: literally, "like a peach," from the resemblance 

 of the leaves. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: damp ground. 



THE PLANT: generally erect or nearly so, one and one half 

 feet to two feet high; the stem simple or much branched; 

 with no hairs or with very tiny ones, kneed; the sheaths 

 at the knees fringed with short bristles. 



THE LEAVES: alternate; lanceolate or linear-lanceolate; 

 one inch to six inches long; roughish; tapering to a point 

 at both ends; on short stems; conspicuously dotted with 

 glands and usually having a dark blotch near the centre; 

 the margins entire or having the appearance of having 

 been eaten. 



THE FLOWERS: tiny, in spikes or racemes which are one 

 half inch to two inches long, petalless, the coloured part 

 being the calyx. 



THE FRUIT: achenes, smooth, shining. 



This is very closely allied to the pennsylvanicum, but 

 the flowers are crimson-pink or deep magenta, instead of 

 "pink or white-green"; the leaves are rough and generally 

 marked with a darker green blotch near the centre. 



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