Polygonum. | POLYGONACE. 589 
1. P. aviculare, Linn. Sp. Plant. 362.—A glabrous rigid and 
wiry prostrate annual, much branched from the base; branches 
4-2 ft. long, straggling, grooved, leafy throughout. Leaves scat- 
tered, sessile or shortly petioled, 4-lin. long or more, linear- 
oblong to lanceolate or lmear-lanceolate, rarely broader and elliptic- 
oblong, acute or obtuse, veins indistinct beneath, margins flat or 
recurved ; stipules brown or reddish near the base, silvery-white 
above, scarious, lacerate to below the middle. Flowers small, 
z~o-# in. long, solitary or in clusters of 2-4 in the axils of nearly 
all the leaves, very shortly pedicelled. Perianth-segments oblong, 
obtuse, with a green centre and broad white margins. Nut ovoid, 
obtusely 3-gonous, very minutely striate or punctate.—Hook. f. 
Fl. Nov. Zel. 1. 210; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 235; Benth. Fl. Austral. 
v. 267. 
NortH AnD SoutH IsLANDs: Roadsides and waste places from the North 
Cape to Foveaux Strait. Most probably an immigrant. Sea-level to 2500 ft, 
Knot-grass ; Makakaka. November—March. 
It is highly doubtful if this is indigenous anywhere outside Europe and 
northern Asia, although its present distribution is almost cosmopolitan. So far 
as its occurrence in New Zealand is concerned, I should certainly have relegated 
it to the list of naturalised plants had it not been for the positive opinion 
expressed in favour of its nativity by the late Mr. Kirk. Those interested in 
the subject should read the papers by Kirk and Travers printed in Vols. iv. and v. 
of the Trans. N.Z. Institute. 
2..P. plebeium, &. Br. Prodr. 420.—Habit of P. aviculare, but 
smaller and more compactly branched. Stems prostrate, glabrous 
or minutely scaberulous, 4-12in. long, rarely more; branches 
slender, grooved. Leaves more closely placed than in P. aviculare, 
4_tin. long, linear to linear-oblong, rarely linear-spathulate, obtuse 
or subacute, midrib evident, margins flat or recurved ; stipules 
short, hyaline, lacerate to the middle. Flowers small, 4-4, in. 
long, solitary or in clusters of 2—5 in the axils of most of the leaves ; 
pedicels short. Nut smaller than in P. aviculare, rhomboid, ob- 
tusely 3-gonous, smooth and shining.—Benth. Fl. Austral. v. 267. 
P. Dryandri, Spreng. Syst. u. 255; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 210. 
P. aviculare var. Dryandri, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 236. 
NorRTH AND SoutH Is~tanps: From the Great Barrier Island and the East 
Cape southwards to the Bluff, but local in the North Island, most abundant in 
Canterbury and Otago. Sea-level to 3000 ft. November—March. 
Very closely allied to P. aviculare, but apparently sufficiently distinct in the 
smaller size and more compact havit, smaller flowers, and smaller shining and 
polished nut. A common plant in Australia, tropical Asia, and some parts of 
Africa. 
3. P. serrulatum, Lag. Gen. et Sp. Nov. 14.—Stems slender, 
herbaceous, sparingly branched, prostrate and rooting below, 
ascending or erect above, glabrous, 9-24in. long or more. Leaves 
shortly petiolate, 2-5in. long, lanceolate or linear - lanceolate, 
