568 POLYGONUM. [CLASS viii. ordek li. 



has been made into various articles of wearing apparel, and it is 

 stated that of it Charles II. had a cravat, frill, and ruffles, pre- 

 sented to him by the Governor of Jamaica. 



ORDER II. 



TRIGYN'IA. 3 Pistils. 



GENUS X. POLY'GONUM.— Linn. Persicaria Bistort. 



Nat. Ord. Poltgo'ne^. Juss. 



Gen. Char. Perianth single, inferior, in four or five deep coloured 

 segments. Stamens equal in number to the segments of the 

 perianth, or twice as many, but frequently part of them are 

 abortive. Stales two or three. Fruit a single seeded compressed 

 or angular nut. — Name from irzXv?, many ; and yow, a knee or 

 joint ; from the numerous joints in the stem. 

 * BiSTORTA. Tourneford. Stem simple, with a solitary terminal 



spike. 



1. P. Bistorta, Linn. (Fig. 644.) Bistort, or Snakeweed. Stem 

 simple, bearing a solitary terminal dense spike ; leaves oblong, ovate, 

 heart-shaped at the base, waved, the upper nearly sessile, the lower on 

 long footstalks. 



English Botany, t. 509.— English Flora, vol. ii. p. 236.— Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 185. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 212. 



Root with fleshy or somewhat woody creeping underground stems, 

 large, tortuous, with numerous branched fibres. Stem erect, simple, 

 slender, from one to two feet high, round, smooth, striated. Leaves 

 alternate, oblong, ovate, heart-shaped at the base, the margins waved, 

 a smooth dark green above, pale and glaucous on the under side, with 

 a stout mid-rib and slender branched downy veins, the lower leaves on 

 long striated footstalks, slightly winged above, from the decurrent 

 margins of the leaves, the upper leaves sessile, or nearly so, the foot- 

 stalks dilated into sheaths, enveloping the stem, and crowned with a 

 brown membranous stipule. Inflorescence a solitary terminal dense 

 spike, of numerous crowded pink Jlowers, each of which is elevated on 

 a short slender peduncle, arising from the axis of one or two thin 

 membranous bracteas, notched at the end, with the mid-rib prolonged, 

 into an awn. Perianth single, smooth, deeply cleft into five rounded 

 segments. Stamens eight, with slender filaments, longer than the 

 perianth and small oval anthers. Styles three, as long as the stamens, 

 filiform, with a minute obtuse stigma. Fruit a single seeded tri- 

 angular smooth black nut. 



Habitat. — Moist meadows and pastures ; not unfrequent in England, 

 Scotland, and Ireland. 



Perennial ; flowering in June and July. 



