232 



M.OWERS OF WASTE PLACES, ETC. 



around which Knotgrass does not form a wide- uniform carpet many 

 yards in extent. It is al)undant wiierevcr agricultural oiH-raiions arc 

 conducted, and also on waste ground. 



This plant is widely spreading, trailing, twining, with nmnerous. 

 branched, slender, finely-furrowed, smooth, jointed stems, with swollen 

 joints. The leaves are variable, oval, lance-shaped, linear, alternate, 

 issuing from the sheaths of the stipules or ocrea;, which are mem- 

 branous, white, shining, 

 torn, red at the base, and 

 2 - lobecl. The young 



leaves are erect at night. 

 The flowers are apet- 

 alous, without a corolla, 

 in the axils of the stipules, 

 in spikes which are long, 

 loose, interrupted and 

 leafy below the flower - 

 stalks, jointed above, 

 white, pink, red, or green, 

 the calyx hollow, the lower 

 green, half-spreading, the 

 upper white or coloured. 

 The 8 anthers are yellow, 

 the fruit is brown, triangu- 

 lar, finel)' furrowed. There 

 are 3 styles. The plant is 

 seldom more than 3-6 in. 

 high. It flowers in April 

 up till October. The plant 

 is perennial, and propa- 

 gated by seed. 

 The flowers are small and incons[)icuous, the plant being usually 

 prostrate. There is little or no honey or scent, so that insects are few. 

 The flowers are hardly 2^^ mm. long, solitary, scentless, and self- 

 pollination is effective. The floral mechanism is as in Fagopyrin)i. 

 The 5 segments of the perianth with the function of the corolla serve 

 as a calyx, the lower part being green, the extremities white or red, 

 and they act as a corolla to make the flower conspicuous. The 5 

 stamens alternate with the perianth segments, and bend outwards, and 

 three others bend inwards to the centre till the anthers stand just above 

 the stigmas and at the .same level, and are thickened at the base to 



IMi.to I 11. Cr.ibtrcc 



Knotgrass [Polyqonuw avicnlari\ L.) 



