AMONG THE WILD FLOWERS. » 20E 
ae oat oes cree a es records having 
seen it 5 feet high in a dry hedge, “its rosy 
cones—z.¢. of flowers—mingled with ripening 
blackberries!” 
The Linn. Cl. is VIII., Octandria, but the 
stamens vary in number. The Nat. Ord. is 
POLYGONACEE, the name from the Greek, re- 
ferring to the numerous joints or knees of the 
stems. 
The spikes of flowers are Meals pink or 
rose-coloured ; sometimes they are produced in 
pale green. The perianth is divided into 5 
segments. Several species have large black 
spots on the leaves. All the plants have a 
peculiar membranous stipule called an Ocrea, 
and the shapes of these Ocree help to de- 
termine the species. 
P. Fydropiper, Water-Pepper, has wavy 
leaves without spots, pale-green slender spikes 
of flowers, and a hot acrid taste in the whole 
plant. About half the size of this plant is 
P. Minus, Small Red Persicaria, with procum- 
bent diffuse stems, less common. VP. Persz- 
cavia, Common Red Persicaria, has pretty pink 
spikes, and. spots on leaves, and is abundant 
in wet places. 
