vuLvaoNUM. OCTANDRIA. TRIGYNIA. 403 



aomewhat acuminate, with short appressed hairs on the lower 

 surface, very scabrous on the upper. Sd/irdes tubular, 

 very hairy, truncate, fringed at ihe top with hairs as long as 

 the tube. Sfiikea 2 — 5, erect, linear, but rather crowded. 

 Flowers mostly by threes, with ciliate bracts at the base of the 

 pedicels. Perianth pale red or white, ovate, not punctate. 

 JVut triquetrous, brown, smooth and shining. 

 Hab. In swamps and along the borders of ponds. August- 

 September. 



7. P, virginiannm L. : flowers 4-cleft, unequal, remotet 

 pentandroiis ; styles 2 ; spike very long, virgate ; leaves oval- 

 fanceolate. Will d. Spec. U. p. U2. Mich. FL I. p. 

 238. P Mrs A F/. I. p. 270. E I Hot t S/c. \, i>. 45i. P. 

 Bistorta Wait. Car. p. ISl.-* Persicaria florum stamini- 

 bus quinis, &;c. Gron, Virg, A3, 



Root perennial. Suem 2 — 4 feet high, erect, simple, angular, 

 pubescent above. Leaves large, on short petioles, acuminate, 

 nearly smooth ; margin scabrous-ciliate. Stifiules very hairy, 

 truncate, ciliate. Sfake someiiines a foot and a half long, very 

 slender, naked. Flowers subsolitary, remote, a little recurved. 

 Perianth unequally 4-cleft, white. Siamens unequal. Stylea 

 2, much exserted, spreading, and often deflexed, involute at 

 the summit, persistent; stigma simple, minute. Mit ovate, 

 acute, cojnpressed. 



Hab. In shady woods and hedges. August — September. 



A singular species, which differs in several respects from 

 the rest of thia genus, but not sufficiently to constitute a new 

 one. 



8. P. amphibium L. : flowers pentandrous ; styles bifid ; 

 spike oblong or ovate ; leaves petiolate, oblong or lanceolate, 

 subcordate. JVil Id. Spec. II. p, 443, Smi t h Fl. Brit, 

 I. p. 423. Eng. Bol. t. 436. Mich. Fl. f. p. 240. P. 

 coccineum W Hid. Enum. Hort. Berol. I. p. 429. P ur sh 

 PL I. p. 271. 



«. lerrestre : stem nearly erect ; leaves oblong-lanceo- 

 liite, often cordate at the base,sn)ooth above, slightly pubes- 

 cent beneath ; spike ovate-oblong. P. amphibium /3. emersum 

 Mich. i^/. I. p. 240. 



Hoot perennial, creeping. Stem assurgent, rooting at the lower 

 joints, about 8 inches high. Leaves 4 — 6 inches long, and 

 one or more broad, generally smooth, or with the under sur- 

 i"ace sprinkled with hairs, somewhat scabrouo on the margin ; 

 petioles an inch in length. Stifiules naked. Sfiifre mostly 

 Solitary, terminal, dense, about an inch long. Perianth bright 

 rose-colour; segments obtuse, spreading. Sta7nens nnequa], 

 a little exserted; Jilaments dilated. Style deeply 2-clcft ; 

 stigmas minute, simple. Aaf ovate, compressed, dark brown. 



