288 POLYGONACEiE. \Folygomm. 



on long terminal glandular hairy peduncles, slender but continuous, about 1 

 line long. Style 3 -cleft. 



Hongkong, Hance. Also in Nepal, Assam, and Silhet. 



3. P. barbatum, Linn.; Meisn. in DC. Prod. xiv. 104; JJ'igJdJc. 1. 1798. 

 Stems ascending or erect, glabrous, 2 to 3 ft. high. Stipules sheathing, 

 haiiy outside, fringed at the top with long fine bristles. Leaves lanceolate, 

 varying much in breadth and size, usually sjDrinkled with a]:)pressed hairs, 

 especially underneath. Spikes in the slender forms near 3 in. long, with the 

 lower flowers distant, as in P. Hydropiper, shorter and more continuous in the 

 stouter s])ecimens. Style 3-cleft. Nut triangidar, smooth. 



lu swamps and wet places, Hance, Harland. Common in tropical Asia and Africa, ex- 

 tending northwards to Amoy and Shanghae. 



4. P. Hydropiper, Linn. ; Meisn. in DC. Prod. xiv. 109. A slender 

 erect or decumbent glabrous annual, 1 to 2 ft. high. Stipules sheathing, but 

 rather short, ciliate at the top. Spikes slender and interrupted, the lower 

 clusters usually axillaiy. Perianth, and often the bracts also, dotted with 

 i^dands, and the whole plant more or less biting or acrid to the taste. Style 

 usually 2-cleft. Nuts flat. 



In rice-fields, Wilford. Widely spread, aud generally common in Europe, central Asia, 

 and North America. 



5. P. glabrum, Willd. ; Meisn. in BC. Prod. xiv. 114; JFigJd, Ic. t. 

 1799. An erect or ascending branching annual or perennial, 1 to 3 ft. high, 

 o-labrous in every part, and the sheathing stipules truncate, without hairs or 

 bristles. Leaves lanceolate, narrowed at the base. Spikes terminal, rather 

 slender, but nearly continuous, 1 to 2 in. long. Perianth small, not dotted. 

 Style usually 2-cleft. Nut flattened. 



In ditches, Kance. Frequent in the tropical regions both of the New and the Old World. 



6. P. lapathifolium, Linn. ; Meisn. in BC. Prod. xiv. 119. An erect 

 or ascending annual, 1 to 2 feet high; the branches glabrous or slightly 

 hoary. Leaves lanceolate, shortly stalked, either glabrous or nearly so on 

 both sides, or more or less hoary or cottony-white underneath. Stipules 

 sheathing, usually slightly hairy, and sometimes fringed with minute fine 

 bristles at the top. Peduncles always with a few glandidar hairs. Spikes 

 oblong or cylindrical, thicker than in any of the above species, seldom above 

 an inch long, usually of a pale-green colour. Perianth slightly glandular- 

 dotted, ^tyle 2-cleft. Nuts flat, but rather thick, concave on both sides. — 

 P. orientate, var. discolor, Benth. in Lond. Journ. Bot. i. 494. 



Hono-kong, Hinds. Widely difiFused over the northern hemisphere, but most abundant in 

 N. America. The Hongkong specimens have the leaves cottony-white underneath, as is de- 

 scribed of the P.glutinosmn, Wall. (Meisn. 1. c. 120), which I have not seen, but which is 

 probably the same species, as the same characters occur in some S. European specimens, 

 distino-uished as P. incamnn. Some specimens from other islands of the Canton river are 

 glabrous, as in the more common varieties of the plant. 



7. P. crientale, Linn. ; Meisn. iuBQ. Prod. xiv. 123 ; Bot. Mar/, t. 213. 

 An erect, softly pubescent or hairy annual, 2 to 4 ft. high. Stipides very 

 hairy, sheatliing- and scarious at the base, but all, except the uppermost, ex- 

 panded at the top into a green, spreading limb. Leaves stalked, ovate, or 



