248 APETALOUS EXOGEXS 



late ; stipules ciliate "with long bristles ; fascicles rather crowded ; 



calyx not glandular-dotted. 



P. mite. Pers. $ FL Cestr. ed. 2. p. 249. 



HYDROPIPER-LIKE POLYGONUM. Mild Water-Pepper. 



Perennial. Stem 1 to 2 feet long, often decumbent and radicating at the lower 

 nodes, smoothish, somewhat branched above. Leaves 2 to 4 inches long, sessile, 

 roughish- (not pellucid-) punctate ; stipules tubular, hirsute, fringed with bristles 

 nearly as long as the tube. Racemes few, chiefly terminal, 1 to 2 inches in length ; 

 flowers mostly purple, with pale red or whitish edges ; pedicels in fascicles of 2 or 3, 

 short, from green, or often purple, bristly-ciliate sheathing bracts. Styles rarely 2. 

 Akenes smooth and shining. 

 Hob. Wet places ; margins of rivulets : frequent. Pi. Aug. JV. Sept. 



t f Flowers axillary (1, 2, or 3), subsessile; styles 3, and akene triquetrous. 



8. 1", teiitie, MX. Stem erect, angular; leaves lance-linear, cus- 

 pidate, erect; stipules ciliate; flowers mostly solitary; stamens 8. 

 SLENDER POLYGONUM. 



Annual. Stem 6 to 12 or 15 inches high, slender, sometimes simple, generally 

 with upright flexuose branches, often much branched from near the base, with 

 acute scabrous angles. Leaves an inch to inch and half long, narrow, 3-nerved, 

 sessile; stipules dark chestnut-brown, tubular, with several lance-linear segmente 

 ending in long setaceous points, flowers green, with whitish edges, sometimes 

 in pairs, on very short pedicels. 



Hob. Dry, sandy banks; slaty hills: frequent. Fl. July. Fr. Sept. 

 9. P. aviculare, L. Stems procumbent, terete ; leaves elliptic-lanceo- 

 late, narrow, spreading; stipules lacerate; stamens usually 5. 

 Also, P. erectum. L. $ Fl. Ceatr. ed. 2. p. 247; 

 BIRD POLYGONUM. Knot-grass. Door-weed. 



Annual. Stem, 6 to 12 inches long, much branched and spreading, smooth. 

 Leaves half an inch to an inch long, sessile ; stipules white. Flowers green, edged 

 with white, and often tinged with purple, small, subsessile, in clusters of 2 or 3. 

 Hob. Yards ; foot-paths, &c. Nat of Europe. Fl. June. Fr. Aug. 



Obs. This humble weed is thoroughly naturalized, about our 

 dwellings. The P. erectum, L. $ Fl. Cestr, ed-. 2. p. 247. is now 

 generally regarded as a variety, though pretty distinct in habit, 

 and of much larger growth. It is nearly erect, 1 to 2 or 3 feet high, 

 with oval petiolate leaves 1 to 2 inches in length, and yellowish-green 

 flowers. This variety has also been introduced from Europe ; and 

 inclines more to moist shaded grounds. 



g 2. Stems clambering, or twining. 



f Stems clambering, retrorsely aculeate ; flowers in pedunculate clusters, 

 * Styles 2, and akene lenticular. 



J.O. I*. arifYIiuiii, L. Leaves hastate, acuminate, on long 

 petioles; clusters racemose, few-flowered; peduncles glandular- 

 hispid; stamens 6. 

 ARUM-LEAVED POLYGONUM. Halbert-leaved Tear-thumb. 



Annual. Stem 3 to 6 feet long, rather coarse, branching, sulcate-angled, often 

 purplish. Leaves 2 to 6 inches long; petioles % an inch to 3 inches in length; 

 stipules ovate, clasping, ciliate. Flowers purple, with paler edges ; calyx mostly 

 4-parted; bracts hirsute. 

 Hob. Swamps; along sluggish rivulets: common. Fl. Aug. Fr. Sept 



