BISTOET DOCK. 245 



from it. Tlie blossoms are pale pink, and have a disagreeable 

 smell. A bouquet of them was once very politely presented to 

 me at Fountains Abbey by a very shy gentleman. Not until 

 after he had given the flowers to me did he take some himself, 

 and carry them to his nose ; great was his embarrassment when 

 he found the nature of the scent he had unwittingly bestowed. 

 The Alpine Bistort is the prettiest, though not the most 

 imposing member of the family. Its spikes of white blossoms, 

 only four or five inches high, with grassy root-leaves half that 

 length adorn our Yorkshire hills. High upon the Swaledale 

 Moors, where the Cloudberry drinks moisture from the clouds 

 which rest on the ground, does the little Alpine Bistort flourish 

 in full luxuriance. The seeds often germinate before they leave 

 the calyx : hence its Latin name " Viviparum." 



The Knotgrass Persicaria is found on waste ground every- 

 where. Sheep eat it with relish, and we greet the rosy blos- 

 soms, sessile in the axils of the lance-shaped leaves, with 

 pleasure, because any bright thing is so welcome by the 

 trampled road. 



The Bindweed Persicaria (P. convolvulus), is the most elegant 

 of the family, twining Convolvulus-like round the stems of corn. 

 Its leaves are heart-shaped, and generally beautifully tinted with 

 crimson. The clusters are lax, and the large seed-vessels have 

 a handsome appearance. It is a common weed in corn fields. 



The Buckwheat (P. fagopyrum), has a handsome flower- 

 cluster, and its arrow-shaped leaves are very pretty. Plots of 

 it are grown in the neighbourhood of large game-preserves, and 

 the seed is used to feed pheasants. 



The Seaside Knotgrass (P. maritima), closely resembles the 

 common species ; its even glossy seeds are its mark of distinc- 

 tion. I have found it on the shore in the Isle of Arran. 



The Dock family resembles that of the Persicaria in having 

 its seed triangular-shaped. The calyx is cut into six segments. 

 There are three styles and three stigmas. 

 The Curled Dock (Rumex crispus), is a very common species, 



