134 



45. POLYGONACE^.. 



lobes, the 3 outer terminating: in a rigid, spreading spine, 

 the 3 inner smaller, oval, closing ov^er the fruit. 



Roadsides, wa.ste places, sandhills. — Almost all the 

 year. — South Africa. The fruit forms a larger and fiercer 

 Pi ickly-jiick than the Trihiil us frnrsfris of the Far Nortli. 



3. Polygonum, L. 



(Greek polys, many, and (lony, a knee; the stems have 



many nodes.) 



Perianth segments usually o, almost equal; stamens 

 5-8; fruit enclosed in the persistant perianth. 



Leaves lanceolate; stems prostrate P. (iricii/nre 1 



Leaves arrow-shaped; stems climbing ... ]'. Conrolrv/tis 2 



1. Polygronum aviculare, L. Wircipeat Hog- 

 n-ced (Australia); Kiiotivecd (England). Glabrous annual, 

 with long, stiff, wiry stems, 

 prostrate in open ground; leaves 

 oblong-lanceolate ; stipules long, 

 white-scarious, torn at summit; 

 flowers small, white or pink, 

 axillary, solitary or 2-4 together; 

 styles 3; fruit 3-angled, reddish- 

 black, dull, minutely tuberculate 

 under the lens, as long as tlie 

 perianth. 



Cultivated and waste places. — 

 Nov. -May. — Cosmopolitan. 



2. P. Convolvulus, L. 



Black Bindweed. Glabrous an- 

 nual with slender climbing stems; 

 leaves arrow-shaped or cordate, 

 acuminate, on long stalks; 

 stipules short, truncate ; flowers 

 whitish in small axillary clusters 

 and loose terminal racemes ; 

 anthers violet; styles 3; fruit 

 with 3 sharp angles, dull-black, quite enclosed 

 perianth. 



Cultivated land. 



Polyg^onum aviculare. 



in the 



Dec. -Mar. — Almost cosmopolitan. 



r. hipiithifoliam, L., a cosmopolitan species, native 

 near Mount Gambler and in the Eastern States, has ap- 

 peared in the Mount Lofty Range near Clarendon. It 

 has prominent truncate stipules, broad-lanceolate leaves 

 tapering into a stalk, glandular-dotted on the under- 

 side and ciliate on edges; panicle glandular-rough; styles 

 2; fruit shining, flat, with concave sides. 



