POLYGONUM 



POLYGONUM 



1393 



1879. 



Lady's Thumb 

 — Polysronum 

 Persicaria. 



Much reduced. 



varieties, as var. variegatum, Hort.,with foliage marked 

 with yellowish white, ami var. pilmilum, Hort., with 

 compact habit and the stature half that of the type. 



4. Persicaria, Linn. Lady's Thumb. Fig. 1879. One 

 of the Smartweeds, but sold by seedsmen as a suitable 

 plant for backgrounds; glabrous or nearly so, erector 

 somewhat dittuse, 1-2 ft. tall: Ivs. lance- 

 olate to linear-lanceolate, slightly cili- 

 ate, usually with a triangular or cres- 

 cent-shai)ed spot near the middle of the 

 blade (whence the name Lady's Thumb) : 

 sheaths short, hairy on the margin: fls. 

 in short spikes, pink or greenish purple, 

 the stamens 6 and the akene lenticular 

 or triquetrous. Eu. — Naturalized every- 

 where about dwellings. 



5. aren^rium, Waldst. & Kit. (P. Sle- 

 gaus, Ten.). Dwarf species with slen- 

 der wiry branches and long iuternodes: 

 Ivs. small, linear-lanceolate, 1-nerved, 

 bearing great numbers of little whitish 

 Us. along the stem, the terminal clusters 

 leafless. S. Eu.- Offered in Calif., for 

 rockeries and bouquets. 



BB. Perennial plants of various habit, 



tisually -with strong rootstocks. 

 C. Native smartweed-lihe plants, some- 

 times offered for naturalizing in 

 hog gardens. 



6. amphibium, Linn. Much spreading 

 and creeping, rooting at the joints, at 

 first more or less pubescent but be- 

 coming glabrous with age: Ivs. rather thickish and 

 large, oblong, elliptic or lance-elliptic, mootly obtuse or 

 very nearly so: sheaths short, usually not fringed or 

 bordered at the summit: fls. light rose-colored, in a 

 short, dense, terminal spike, the stamens 5 and ex- 

 serted, and the akene lenticular. In water or bogs, 

 across the continent.— When growing in water, the 

 floating leaves become long-petioled. 



7. Hdrtwrightii, Gray. Differs from the last in hav- 

 ing many narrow-lanceolate Ivs., bordered and fringed 

 sheaths, and hispid stems. Muddy places, across the 

 continent. 



CO. Exotic plants, used mostly for borders, and appear- 

 ing regularly in the trade. 



v>. Whole plant white-woolly. 



8. lanigerum, R. Br. Stems thick, creeping at the 

 base, but the tops erect and standing 2-.5 ft. high, much 

 branched: Ivs. narrow-lanceolate and more or less re- 

 curved, acuminate, covered with down of the color of 

 old silver: sheaths short, not ciliate: fls. small, red or 

 copper-colored ( varying to white ) , in racemes on slender 

 forking peduncles, the stamens G, and the akene flat and 

 shining black. Tropics of Old World and, according to 

 Hooker, of America. R.H. 1891, p. 5G7. — Lately intro- 

 duced for subtropical gardening, and not yet tested in 

 the North. It probably will not endure northern winters 

 even with good protection, but it is readily propagated 

 each year from cuttings taken from plants carried over 

 winter for that purpose. 



DD. Whole plant green or grayish, not ivhite-woolly . 

 B. Fls. pink or red (sometimes varying to white), in 

 erect spikes : plants grown for their flowers. 



9. affine, Don {P. Brunbnis, Wall.). Tufted gla- 

 brous plant, with flowering stems 1 ft. or less high, 

 from a woody prostrate rootstock: Ivs. mostly radical, 

 oblanceolate to spatulate to lance-oblong : sheaths 

 rather long, split or entire: fls. bright rose-red, in 

 dense, erect, terminal spikes 2-3 in. long, the stamens 

 8, the akene trigonous. Himalaya, at elevations of 9,000 

 to 14,000 ft. B.M. 6472. -An excellent little plant for 

 cool places, blooming in autumn. 



10. amplezicaule, Don [P. oxyphyllum, Wall. P. spe- 

 ciosum, Meisn. P. multifldnun, Hort.), Mountain 

 Fleece. Strong-growing tufted green-stemmed plant 

 2-3 ft. tall, from a woody rootstock : Ivs. cordate-ovate 

 to cordate-lanceolate, shoj^t-petioled or clasping, the 



margin wavy and crenulate, long-acuminate : sheaths 

 long and split or lacerate: fls. rose-red or white, rather 

 large, in strict, loug-peduncled spikes 2-C in. long, the 

 stamens 8 and exserted, the akene trigonous. Hima- 

 laya, from G,000 to 13,000 ft. altitude. B.It. 25:40. B.M. 

 GfjOO.- An excellent border perennial, blooming in mid- 

 summer. Some, at least, of the plants that have been 

 cult, as Mountain Fleece are a native Polygonum (P. 

 emersum), which grows nearly throughout North 

 America, including Mexico. 



EE. Fls. white or greenish, in axillary clustered ra- 

 cemes : plants not grown for their flowers. 

 (More or less dioecious or polygamous.) 

 11. Si6boldi, De Vriese (P. cuspiddtum. Sieb. & Zucc, 

 not Willd. P. Zuccarinii, Small). Fig. 1880. Strong, 

 stout, handsome bushy perennial (stalks dying to the 

 ground in winter), growing 3-5 ft. high, the stems 

 gracefully curving outward: Ivs. short-oval to orbicu- 

 lar-ovate, truncate or slightly cordate at base, abruptly 



1880. Polygonum Sieboldi (P. cuspidatum) (X >4). 



pointed, the strong side nerves uniting in marginal 

 loops: sheaths short and flaring, deciduous: fls. small 

 and whitish, very numerous in slender-panicled ra- 

 cemes, the stamens 8, and the akene trigonous. Japan. 

 B.M. 6503. R.H. 1858, p. 631; 1894, p. 54. Gn. 2G, p. 

 317; 49, p. 238.— A very effective plant for bold mass 

 effects, perfectly hardy in the northern states, and now 

 frequently planted. It is everywhere known in the 

 trade as P. cuspidatum. It produces clouds of bloom. 

 Var. compdctum is cult. 



12. Sachalin6nse, Schmidt. Sacaline. Fig. 1881. 

 Exceedingly vigorous plants, spreading rapidly from 

 the tips of strong underground shoots, the reddish gla- 

 brous dead stalks often standing 8-12 ft. high through 

 the winter: Ivs. very large, frequently 1 ft. or more 



