. . 



drooping, 

 free, fruit 



POLYGOXUM.] POLYGONS^. 309 



blotch, pubescent and punctate below, eglandular ; stipules copiously ciliate. 

 Spikes rj-l^ in. , stout, with sometimes a leaf at the base, erect or suberect, 

 peduncled, lateral sessile. Sepals red or white, equalling the fruit. 

 DISTRIB. Europe (Arctic), N. Africa, Siberia, Dahuria, W. Asia to India. 



** Spi&es long, lax, slender, interrupted and leafy below. 

 6. P. mi'te, Schrank; annual, suberect, spikes slender erect, sepals 



eglandular, stamens 5-6, styles 2-3 united half-way, fruit plano-convex or 



3-gouous as long as the sepals. 



Wet places, from York southwards, local ; fl. Aug.-Sept. Stems 1-2 ft., erect, 

 decumbent at the rooting base, branched, slender. Leaves 2-4 in. , shortly 

 petioled, lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, subacute, ciliolate, eglandular ; 

 stipules loose, strongly ciliate. /Spikes ^-3 in., solitary, lax. Sepals white 

 or pink, nerves faint. Fruit black, rather narrow. DISTBIB. Europe, ex- 

 cept Spain Greece and Turkey. 



P. Hydrop'iper, L. ; annual, suberect, spikes very slender tips 

 epals with few very large glands, stamens 6 (rarely 8), styles 2-3 



free, fruit plano-convex or 3-gonous as long as the sepals. Water-pepper. 



Watery places, from Skye southwards, and in Ireland ; ascending to 1,300 ft. 

 in the Lake district ; fl. Aug.-Sept. Stem 1-3 ft., creeping and rooting at 

 the base, much branched. Leaves 2-4 in., shortly petioled, lanceolate or 

 elliptic-lanceolate, subacute, ciliolate, minutely glandular below ; stipules 

 short, inflated, ciliate or not. Spikes 3-8 in., curved, lax. Sepals green 

 and rose-coloured. Fruit black, punctulate. DISTRIB. N. temp, hemi- 

 sphere. Very acrid, and a reputed diuretic. 



8. P. mi mis, Huds. ; annual, spikes very slender straight, sepals 

 usually 5 with minute glands at the base only, styles 2-3 united half-way, 

 fruit plano-convex or 3-gonous as long as the sepals. 



Marshy places, local in England, Dumfriesshire only in Scotland ; rare in 

 Ireland ; fl. Aug.-Sept. Stem 6-24 in., usually very slender, much 

 branched, erect or ascending. Leaves 1-3 in., narrow-lanceolate, ciliolate, 

 eglandular ; stipules not inflated, short, ciliate. Spikes 1-3 in., solitary or 

 panicled, usually on slender peduncles. Sepals iVi in., very small. Fruit 

 pitchy-black, shining, acute. DISTRIB. Europe, Siberia, W. Asia to India. 



SECTION 3. Avicula'ria, Meissn. Annual or biennial. Leaves narrow ; 

 stipules silvery, at length lacerate. Flowers axillary, solitary or fascicled ; 

 pedicels jointed at the top. Stamens usually 8. Styles usually 3. Fruit 

 3-quetrous ; embryo lateral, cotyledons thin flat. 



9. P. Avicula're, L. ; prostrate, nerves of leaves obscure beneath, of 

 the stipules few simple, sepals enclosing the fruit. Knotgrass. 



Fields, waste places, &c. ; ascending to 1,800 ft. in Northumberland ; fl. 

 May-Oct. Annual, glabrous, eglandular, branched from the base ; 

 branches ^-3 ft., straggling, grooved, angular above, leafing and flowering 

 throughout. Leaves ^-1 in., ^-1 in. broad, sessile or shortly petioled, 

 linear-lanceolate or -oblong, narrowed at both ends, rarely broadly ellip- 

 tic or almost filiform, acute or obtuse, margins flat or recurved ; stipules 

 |-| in., white, red at the base, lacerate to the middle. Flowers iV- g in., 

 white, pink, crimson, or green, clustered in the axils of most of the leaves. 

 Fruit brown, minutely striate and punctate. DISTRIB. Europe (Arctic), N. 

 and W. Asia ; introd. in N. America. A most variable plant. 



