rOLYGONACEiE. 71 



much branched. Leaves shortly stalked, the upper ones subsessile, 

 narrowly lanceolate or elliptical-lanceolate. Ochrea? subventricose, 

 ciliated with long and short weak bristles, and floral ones usually not 

 ciliated. Racemes spike-like, solitary at the extremity of the stem 

 and branches, racemosely or subpaniculately arranged, long, slender, 

 lax, interrupted, leafy only at the base, flexuous, at length generally 

 with the apex pendulous. Pedicels about as long as the nut, articulated 

 immediately below the perianth, without glands. Perianth subher- 

 baceous, studded all over with conspicuous glands, without prominent 

 nerves. Stamens 6, rarely 8. Styles 2 or 3, free nearly to the base. 

 Nut of the 2 -styled flowers ovate plano-convex, shagreened, with raised 

 points, dim black, those of the 3-styled flowers bluntly trigonous. 

 Leaves beneath and ochrete dotted with mmute glands. Plant acrid. 



In wet places, particularly by ditches and in hollows filled with water 

 in winter. Common, and generally distributed m England and the 

 south of Scotland, but becoming much scarcer in the north of Scotland, 

 where it is absent from many of the counties. Common throughout 

 L'eland. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Annual. Late Summer, Autumn. 



Stem 9 inches to 3 feet high, branched principally at the lower 

 nodes, from which branches nearly equalling the main stem are com- 

 monly produced ; the lower part of the stem geniculate when gromng 

 in wet places, and producing tufts of root-fibres from the lower nodes. 

 Leaves (inclusive of the short petioles) 2 to 4 inches long, slightly 

 undulated; the petioles dilated at the base; the margins serrulate, 

 with short bristles pointing towards the apex. Ochrece rather large, 

 wide, brown, truncate, and fringed with a few bristles, those from 

 which flowers are produced usually destitute of bristles. Spikes 3 to 

 9 inches long, very lax, shorter and rather flexuous when the plant is 

 growing in dry ground, very long, arched, and hanging over in 

 luxuriant specimens growing in wet places; fascicles of which the 

 spike is composed 2- or 3-flowered, the lower ones remote, and with 

 leaves at the base of their ochreae, the upper ones surrounded by 

 ochreae, but mthout leaves. Perianth i inch long, green, tinged with 

 pale rose, dotted with large glands, which are at first impressed and 

 green, but afterwards prominent and reddish-brown. Nut -^ inch long, 

 black, the greater number of them much compressed, the rest tri-* 

 gonous. Plant pale green, ihe stems and lower leaves often tinged 

 with lurid purple late in the season. 



Water Pepper. 



French, Benouee poivre d^eau. German, Wasserpfeffer. 



This plant possesses very acrid qualities, and is hot and biting to a degree, so that 

 no animal will eat it, even insects avoid it ; and it is said that when diied and laid 



