KXOT-GRASS. 131 



upward to the %ht. It is a very variable species: its 

 stems are sometimes long and delicate-looking, and the 

 leaves sparsely developed, while in others they branch 

 freely, and are densely crowded with foliage. The plant 

 is an annual, and begins flowering in May; it may be 

 found in blossom any time between then and September 

 or October. 



To pass from the general to the particular, we 

 may point out that the root is very fibrous, and takes a 

 strong hold of the earth, so that in hard ground it is 

 with great difficulty eradicated, generally breaking off at the 

 level of the ground when the attempt is made. The stems 

 are numerous, and, as we have already indicated, either 

 trailing or upright in their growth, tough and wiry, and, 

 like all the polygonums, much jointed. When gathered, 

 the stem generally snaps at one of the joints. The leaves 

 vary a good deal in form, for, though they all have the 

 general oval character our figure indicates, in some well- 

 nourished plants they are almost as broad as long, while 

 in the starvelings they become very attenuated. The 

 variation is chiefly in the breadth; they rarely increase 

 much in length beyond what we see in the illustration. 

 They are a bluish green in tint and smooth to the touch. 

 The leaves of this plant, as in all the other species in the 

 genus, are arranged alternately on the stems, and each 

 springs from a membranous, whitish, and sheathing stipule 

 that surrounds the joint, its upper edge being irregularly 

 notched or cut. The flowers are borne in small clusters in 

 the axils of most of the leaves ; though small in themselves, 

 they are so numeroiis that in the aggregate they make a 

 fair show of blossom. The perianth is divided into five 

 segments, varying in colour from a light to a deep pink, 



