

OCTANDRIA. TRIGYNIA. Polygonum. 375 



spotted, sometimes not. Spikes thicker than those of P. Persia 

 caria, heavy, and, in consequence of their weight, often hanging 

 down. Seeds larger than those of P. Persicaria. Ray. Stem 

 cylindrical, smooth. Leaves egg-spear-shaped, smooth above ; 

 the uppermost dotted underneath with minute glands, the lower- 

 most covered with a kind of down; sometimes with, and some- 



'/ 



*/■ 



P. Persicaria. Fruit-stalks beset with minute yellowish glo- 

 bular glands, on exceedingly short foot-stalks. Spikes oval, 

 when the seeds are ripe drooping* Flowers greenish, set close 

 together. Seed flat, with a depression in the middle of each 

 side, sometimes obtusely triangular* Curt. i\ lapathifolium 

 Sp, pi. according to Sibthorpe ; but it does not agree wiih Ray's 

 description of that plant, see Raj Hist. iii. 119, nor are the sta- 

 mens as tall as the blossom, though it is well represented by the 

 figure in Lob. ic. 315. 1. which is also quoted' by Linnseus. P. 

 pcnsyl<vanicum. Curt, and Huds. ed. i. but not the P. pensyU 

 *vanicum of Linn. 



Pale flowered Snakeweed. Dunghills, corn fields, and some- 

 times on the side of water. A. Aug. 



Var. 2. Stem and flowers red, but not so beautifully bright 

 as those of P, Persicaria. Like the preceding in every other 

 respect. Curt. 



Dunghills with variety 1, and also in corn fields. 



Var. 3. Flea bitten. Stem spotted with red. Curt. 



Curt, P. pens, caule maculate. 



Comes near to a distinct species. Stem spotted with red. 

 Spikes much slenderer, even more so than those of P. Persicaria, 

 red, but not so bright as those of the Persicaria. Leaf-stalks 

 rough, underneath. Leaves generally white underneath. If not 

 attentively examined will be taken for the P. Persicaria. Curt. 

 Spikes of a dull rusty red on the side opposed to the sun, pate 

 green on that not exposed to the sun. Flowers when in blossom 

 whitish green, becoming tinged more or less with red as the seed 

 advances to maturity. Stem like that of P. Persicaria, and pal- 

 lidum, spotted with small oblong spots resembling flea-bites. 

 Leaves, the upper smooth and dotted underneath ; iht lower spread 

 over with a thin bluish white down, not dotted. Leaf-stalks of 

 the lower leaves smooth. Spikes oblong, and egg-oblong. 



P. Persicaria. Polmch. Leers, n. f. Hu vs. Ditches about 

 St. George's Fields often with P. Persicaria, and on the watery 

 parts of Blackheath and Peckham Rye. Dunghills, and in a 

 ditch on Stourbridge Common. St. A. Sept.* 



* Sparrows and other small birds are very fond of the seeds of all the 

 varieties Cu*t, 





