376 



POL 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



POL 



calicine, or none, if that be considered as the calix. Seed : 



one, angular. The species are, 



*Atraphaxoides, with a frutesce/it Stem. 



1. Polygonum Frutescens; Sltrubby Poh/gon/im, Stem 

 shrubby; calicir.e leaflets two, reflex; calix five-leaved; leaf- 

 lets when ripe equal or unequal, coloured or uncoloured, 

 but constantly loose from the sit. a. It flowers in July. 

 Native of Siberia. 



2. Polygonum Atraphaxoides. Flowers hexandrous, digy- 

 HOUS ; leaves ovate, waved. 



**Bistortae, with a single Spike. 



3. Polygonum Bistorta; Great Bistort, or Snaheweed. 

 Stem quite simple, with a single spike ; leaves ovate, waved, 

 Recurrent. Root perennial, and not easily extirpated, some- 

 what more or less bent or crooked, whence its names Bistort, 

 Snakewecd, and Adders-wort; outwardly of a chestnut, in- 

 wardly of a flesh-colour, furnished with numerous fibres and 

 creepers. The root being one of the strongest vegetable 

 astringents, might be well applied to the purpose of tanning 

 leather, if it could be procured in sufficient quantity : the 

 young shoots are eaten in herb pudding, in the north of 

 England, where the plant is known by the name of Easter 

 Giant: and about Manchester they are substituted for greens, 

 under the name of Patience Dock. The root was formerly 

 considered to be alexipharmic and sudorific: but its uses 

 seem only to be derived from its styptic powers. Dr. CuIIen 

 frequently employed it in intermittent fevers; and gave it, 

 both alone and with Gentian, to the quantity of three drachms 

 a day. Meyrick observes, that all the parts of the plant 

 have a rough austere taste, but more especially the root, 

 which is of a very binding nature, and may be used to advan- 

 tage, both externally and inwardly, whenever astringency is 

 required, as for incontinence of urine, immoderate menses, 

 bleeding wounds, spitting of blood, the bloody flux, and 

 other fluxes of the belly. It is also of singular efficacy in a 

 soft spungy state of the gums, attended with looseness of the 

 teeth and soreness of the mouth. Dried and reduced to 

 powder, or boiled in wine, and taken pretty freely, it pre- 

 vents miscarriage, helps ruptures, dissolves coagulated blood 

 from falls, blows, &c.%nd kills worms in children. Native 

 of many parts of Europe, Siberia, and Japan. It is most 

 common in the northern parts of Great Britain, particularly 

 in moist meadows, where it is often a noxious weed, fre- 

 quently forming large patches, and not easily extirpated : it 

 flowers in May and June. Near London it occurs by Bat- 

 tersea; and in a meadow by Bishop's wood, near Hampstead ; 

 in the meadows about Uxbridge; near Rickmansworth in 

 Hertfordshire; Hyde Mill, Luton, and Thurleigh, in Bed- 

 fordshire; on the banks of the Isis beyond Ifley; and near 

 Gosford bridge in Oxfordshire; Ham-green near Mathon, 

 and Hartley, in Worcestershire ; near the infirmary, Staf- 

 ford ; in the closes near Howes House, Whitwell, and Shel- 

 ford, Cambridgeshire; Brome and Heigham in Norfolk; 

 Tamworth and Fazeley, in Warwickshire ; near Derby ; Cof- 

 grave in Northamptonshire; Lenton in Nottinghamshire; 

 about Sheffield, Halifax, Bradford, and Settle, in Yorkshire, 

 in all of which places it is very common ; near Kendal in 

 Westmoreland; near Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; and near In- 

 verary in Scotland, This plant may be propagated by 

 planting the roots in a moist shady border, either in spring 

 or autumn. 



4. Polygonum Viviparum ; Small or Alpine Bistort, or 

 Viviparous Snakeweed. Stem quite simple, with a single 

 spike ; loaves lanceolate, rolled back at the edge. This has 

 the f:mie habit as the preceding, but is much less. The 

 roots have t!e same quality, and are eaten by northern 



nations, and in some parts of Siberia and Tartary. Plants 

 of this species, cultivated during four years in a garden, 

 constantly produced perfect seeds in July, and flowered as 

 constantly a second time in September. These latter ger- 

 mina vegetated on the stem. Welsh Bistort, is a small vari- 

 ety of this species ; and was found on a very high rock near 

 Lhanberys. Native of many parts of Europe, in moun- 

 tainous pastures. In England it is found near Crosby, 

 Ravensworth ; in the fields between Shap and Hardingdal ; 

 near Wherf, and near the footway leading from that place 

 to Settle ; on the edge of Lemer Water at Carr End ; and in 

 Wensley Dale, all in Westmoreland. It is not infrequent on 

 the dry stony pastures in Scotland ; especially those on the 

 mountain-sides, as about the pass of Killicrankie, near Blair; 

 about Loch Hannoch in Perthshire, Loch Urn in Inverness- 

 shire, on the lop of Ben Lomond; and in Benhuardal, in 

 Strath in ihc Isle of Skye. 



***Pcrsicaricp, with abijid Pistil, and generally fewer Stamina 

 than eiijlit. 



r >. PolygoniimTirgiuianum; Virginian Persicaria. Flow- 

 ers pcntandrous, senndigyiious ; corollas quinquefid, unequal ; 

 leaves ovate; stems hard, round, green, with great joints on 

 them. At the lops of the slalks, and from the joints of the 

 leaves, spring spikes of white flowers, succeeded by flat, 

 black, shining seeds; root perennial, consisting of a great 

 bush of long black fibres. It flowers in August and Sep- 

 tember. Native of North America. 



6. Polygonum l.apathifolium; Pale-flowered Persicaria, 

 or Pale-leaved Dead Arsesmart. Flowers hexandrous, digy- 

 notis; peduncles rugged ; stipules awnless; seeds concave on 

 each side. Root annual ; stem about three feet high, r&und, 

 smooth, hollow, branched, the branches spreading, swelling 

 very much above the joints, patulous, and sometimes decum- 

 bent. It is distinguished from the eleventh species by its 

 being much larger, its joints more swelled, its stipules being 

 much more strongly ribbed at bottom, and without "ciliee ; 

 and also by its broader leaves, the veins of which are rather 

 deeper, and more strongly marked. The following are strik- 

 ing varieties: 1. That with a red stalk and red flowers, 

 which is often found on dunghills and in corn-fields, and is 

 like the true species in every respect but its colour; but the 

 red of the flowers is not so bright. 2. This not only varies 

 in having its stalks spotted with red, but the spikes are much 

 more slender, rather more so than those of the eleventh 

 species, and also of a red colour, but not so bright. They 

 are often found together in the ditches about St. George's 

 Fields. When this variety grows in a rich soil, it becomes full 

 as large as the true species; but in a different soil and situa- 

 tion, as on the watery parts of Blackheath and Peckham Rye, 

 it becomes much smaller, generally has its leaves whiter 

 underneath, and may be taken fbr the eleventh species, if 

 not attentively examined : its spotted stalk, and the rough- 

 ness of the petioles, will distinguish it readily. 3. The vari- 

 ety with leaves hoary on the under side, is found here and 

 there in corn-fields and other places, where the soil is not 

 very rich, and is obviously enough distinguished. Besides 

 these three remarkable varieties, it varies in size according 

 to the richness or poverty of the ground, and, like the 

 eleventh species, the leaves are sometimes spotted and some- 

 times not. Small birds are fond of the seeds of this species 

 and its varieties, and the farmer should carefully weed them 

 from his dunghills. 



7. Polygonum Amphibium ; Amphibious Persicaria. 

 Flowers pentandrous, semidigynous ; spike ovate. Root 

 perennial, creeping; stems rooting, erect, or floating, a foot 

 and half or more long. This is the only European species in 



