590 POLYGONACEH. [Polygonum. 
acuminate, narrowed to a rounded or subcordate base, mem- 
branous, glabrous or strigose on the midrib beneath, margins. 
serrulate ; stipules long, closely sheathing, ciliate and pilose with 
long erect hairs. Spikes terminal, very slender, simple or sparingly 
branched, 1-2in. long; bracts narrow-turbinate, truncate, margins 
ciliate. Flowers 2-3 to each bract, small, reddish, ;,in. long. 
Perianth-segments oblong, obtuse, glabrous and eglandular. Sta- 
mens 5 or 6. Style-branches 2, rarely 3. Nut plano-convex with 
obtuse margins, rarely trigonous, smooth and shining.—P. minus. 
var. decipiens, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 235. P. prostratum, 
A. Rich. Fl. Nov. Zel. 177 (not of BR. Br.) ; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 
358; Raoul, Choix, 42; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 209. 
NortH AND SoutH Is~anps, CHatuAm Is~LANDS: Abundant along the sides. 
of rivers or in lowland swamps from the North Cape to Canterbury. Tutu- 
Nawar. November—March. 
A widely distributed plant, ranging through south Europe, western Asia, 
Africa, and Australia. It differs from P. minus in the larger size, the more 
slender and much more erect habit, and in the longer and more ciliate stipules. 
2, RUMEX, Linn. 
Perennial or annual herbs, very rarely shrubby. Leaves all 
radical or radical and cauline, often cordate or hastate at the base, 
entire or toothed or almost pinnatifid. Flowers hermaphrodite or 
less commonly unisexual, small, green, in axillary clusters or whorls, 
often forming simple or panicled racemes. Perianth-segments 6, 
the 3 inner enlarging and closing over the fruit, margins entire or 
toothed, midrib often tubercled. Stamens 6. Ovary 3-gonous; 
styles short, filiform; stigmas fimbriate. Nut 3-gonous, included 
in the enlarged inner perianth-segments, angles acute. Embryo 
lateral. 
A large genus of over 100 species, found in all temperate and many tropical 
countries, and including several common weeds of cultivation. Both the New 
Zealand species are endemic. 
Flowering - stems much divaricately branched, 6-18 in. 
high. Inner perianth-segments without tubercles, reti- 
culate, margins usually with long curved spines .. 1. R. flexwosus. 
Flowering -stems short, stout, depressed, 2-6in. high. 
Inner perianth-segments tubercled ; margins ‘entire or 
with 1 or 2 short teeth ee af a .. 2. BR. neglectus. 
Several species of Rwmex from the Northern Hemisphere have been intro- 
duced into the colony, and are now widely diffused, the most abundant being 
the English ‘‘ docks” R. obtusifolius,*R. crispus, and R. viridis; and the 
‘¢sheeps’ sorrel’’ R. acetosella. Descriptions of these will be found in any 
English Flora. 
1. R. flexuosus, Sol. ex Forst. Prodr. n. 515.—A glabrous 
perennial herb with a diffusely branched stem 6-18 in. high ; 
branches slender, grooved, flexuous, divaricate. Leaves chiefly 
