POLYGONACEiE. 



Fl. Lond. t. 22. Eng. Fl.'u. 192. — A common weed all over 

 Europe. (Dock.) 



Root black, many-headed, yellowish within. Stems a yard high, 

 erect, branched, round, furrowed, leafy, rough chiefly in the upper part 

 Radical leaves very large, stalked, deep green, veiny, heart-shaped, 

 more or less blunt ; the rest narrower, more pointed, on shorter stalks; 

 all crenate and crisped in some degree. Clusters long, of numerous, 

 many-flowered whorls, of which the lower ones are most distant, and 

 leafy. Inner sepals large, oblong, obtuse, veiny; subsequently furnished 

 with 3 sharp teeth at each side, one of them also bearing a brown, or 

 reddish tubercle, of a smaller proportion than most species. Fruit 

 rather large, acute, with 3 sharp angles. Smith. — Properties similar 

 to those of the last species. The root in powder also employed as a 

 dentrifice. 



745, R. Acetosa Linn, sp.pl. 481. Eng. Bot. 1. 127. Woodv. 

 t. 69. Eng. Fl. ii. 196. — A common plant in pastures and on 

 banks. (Common Sorrel.) 



Root long and tapering, astringent, somewhat woody. Herb smooth, 

 powerfully and agreeably acid. Stem 1-2 feet high, erect, simple, leafy, 

 striated. Lower leaves stalked, somewhat ovate, arrow-shaped, with 

 2 lateral teeth ; upper sessile, more oblong, and narrower. Stipule 

 tubular, membranous, fringed. Clusters erect, compound, whorled, 

 leafless. Flowers dioecious. Males green with a reddish tinge. Inner 

 sepals ovate, rather larger than the outer. Females rather redder. Inner 

 sepals ovate, obtuse, red, entire, each bearing an oblong pale tubercle. 

 Smith. — An agreeably acid plant. It acts as a refrigerant and diuretic. 

 A decoction of the leaves may be employed in the form of a whey as 

 a cooling and pleasant drink in febrile and inflammatory diseases. 



746. R. alpinus Linn. sp. pi. 481. Campd. monogr. 105. t.2. 

 f. 1. N. and E. pi. med. t. 110 and 111. — Alps of Europe, the 

 Crimea, the summits of Caucasus. (Monk's Rhubarb.) 



Radical leaves cordate-ovate, obtuse, wrinkled, wavy, with the veins 

 of the under side downy ; those of the stem unequal at the base ; the 

 uppermost lanceolate. Whorls close together, somewhat leafless, col- 

 lected in a dense panicle. Flowers polygamous. Inner sepals becoming 

 cartilaginous, cordate-ovate, rather blunt, nearly entire, naked. — Root 

 thick fleshy, purgative like Rhubarb, only in a much less degree. 

 Linnaeus by an inconceivable mistake took it for a variety of Rheum 

 rhaponticum, adding " easdem esse species nullus quidem neget, qui 

 structuram plantae utriusque inspexerit ! " He however subsequently 

 changed his opinion. 



POLYGONUM. 



Calyx turbinate, more or less coloured, in 5 deep, ovate, ob- 

 tuse, permanent segments. Filaments various in number, 5, 6, 7, 

 or 8, awl-shaped, very short. Anthers roundish, incumbent. 

 Ovary roundish, either triangular or compressed. Styles gene- 

 rally 3 ; in those with a compressed ovary only 2, thread-shaped, 

 very short, in some species partly combined. Stigmas simple. 



360 



