2742 



POLYGONUM 



POLYGONUM 



recurved, 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 slen- 

 der forking peduncles, the stamens 6, and the achene 

 flat and shining black. Tropics and subtropics of Old 

 World and, according to Hooker, of Amer. R.H. 1891, 

 p. 567. Gn. 62, p. 345; 70, p. 167. G.W. 2, p. 419; 13, 

 p. 390. Perennial and not hardy in the N., but seeds 

 sown early will produce excellent lawn specimens, which 

 are interesting because of the gray foliage and leafy habit. 



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



E. Fls. greenish or whitish, in very slender and long 

 interrupted flexuose or curving wand-like spikes. 



9. filif6rme, Thunb. Perennial, mostly somewhat 

 hispid, 2-5 ft., with hollow branches: Ivs. petioled, 

 pubescent, ovate or oval, short-acuminate: fls. very 

 small, whitish (or rose-colored?), remotely placed in 



3105. Polygonum 



Sieboldii (P. cuspidatum). 



(X>fl 



spikes 5-8 in. or more long. Japan. By some authors 

 thought to be con-specific with the widespread P. 

 virginianum, but Ivs. less acuminate, bracts shorter- 

 ciliate, fls. and frs. much smaller. Var. variegatum, 

 Hort., has Ivs. marbled with yellow and pale green: an 

 attractive plant, forming good clumps 1% ft. high and 

 persisting when well established. R.H. 1912, p. 259. 



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

 erect usually simple stout spikes: plants grown for 

 their fls. 



10. Bistorta, Linn. (Bistdrta officinalis, Raf.). BIS- 

 TORT. SNAKE WEED. Perennial, with a thick more or 

 less spreading rootstock: st. simple, slender but strict, 

 1-2 ft.: Ivs. mostly radical, oblong-ovate and obtuse, 

 undulate, glaucous beneath; st.-lvs. nearly sessile, broad 

 at base; stipules J/-3 in. long: fls. white or pink, in a 

 single dense cylindrical or oblong spike an inch or two 



long; stamens exserted; styles 3. N. Eu. and N. Asia. 

 The astringent rootstock was once used medicinally, 

 and has provided food in famine times. Var. super- 

 bum, Hprt., is offered abroad, with conical heads of 

 bright pink long-lasting fls. 



11. amplexicaule, Don (P. oxyphyllum, Wall. P. 

 multiflorum, Hort.). MOUNTAIN FLEECE. Strong- 

 growing tufted green-stemmed perennial with slender 

 fl.-sts. 2-3 ft. tall, from a woody branching rootstock: 

 Ivs. cordate-ovate to cordate-lanceolate, short-petioled 

 or clasping, the margin wavy and crenulate, long- 

 acuminate; sheaths 1-2 in. long and split or lacerate: 

 fls. rose-red or white, rather large (sometimes J^in. 

 diam.) in strict long-peduncled spikes 2-6 in. long, the 

 stamens 8 and exserted, the achene trigonous. Hima- 

 laya, from 6,000-13,000 ft. altitude. B.R. 25:46. B.M. 

 6500. 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. 

 Muhlenbergii), which grows nearly throughout N. 

 Amer., including Mex. Var. speciosum, Hook. f. (P. 

 speciosum, Wall.), has larger deep purplish red or claret- 

 colored fls. 



12. affine, Don (P. Brundnis, Wall.). Tufted gla- 

 brous perennial, with flowering sts. \Yi ft. or less high, 

 from a woody prostrate rootstock: Ivs. mostly radical, 

 oblanceolate to spatulate to lance-oblong; sheaths 

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

 in dense, erect, terminal obtuse spikes 2-3 in. long, 

 the stamens 8, the achene trigonous. Himalaya, at ele- 

 vations of 9,000-14,000 ft. B.M. 6472. An excellent 

 little plant for cool places, blooming in autumn. 



13. vaccinifdlium, Wall. Tufted glabrous perennial 

 with trailing and creeping branches, 1 ft. or less tall, 

 and stout twisted rootstocks: fl.-branches leafy: lys. 

 small (YT-% in. long), short-stalked, orbicular or ellip- 

 tic, acute or acuminate, entire, somewhat glaucous 

 beneath; stipules to J^in. long, brown, laciniate: fls. 

 rose-red, J^in. diam., in subsessile racemes 2-3 in. 

 long. Himalaya region, 9,000-14,000 and more ft. alti- 

 tude. B.M. 4622. Gn. 39, p. 543; 43, p. 501; 45, p. 

 159. G.W. 9, p. 377. J.F. 2:117. 



14. Posumbu, Hamilt. Dwarf compact perennial, 

 with long-creeping st. which is ascendent or decumbent 

 and simple or branched: Ivs. dark green and shining, 

 1-3 in. long, stalked, broad-lanceolate and narrow- 

 acuminate, glabrous or somewhat hairy, ciliolate; 

 stipules with stiff hairs longer than the sheath: fls. 

 small, rose-colored, in many erect filiform racemes or 

 spikes that are sometimes several inches long. Himalaya 

 and to China and Japan. 



BEE. Fls. white to purplish, in panicled or corymbose 

 heads. 



15. chinense, Linn. (P. cymosum, Roxbg. P. poly- 

 cephalum, Wall. P. corymbosum, Willd.). Shrubby 

 perennial of diffuse or erect habit, 5 ft. high, from 

 glabrous to glandular-pubescent, the many sts. angled 

 and grooved: Ivs. 3-5 in. long, stalked, variable in shape, 

 from linear-oblong to deltoid, ovate or even broader, 

 entire or crenulate, the petiole usually 2-eared at base; 

 stipules long and oblique at top : fls. white, rose-color or 

 purplish, borne in many little heads that are panicled 

 or corymbose with usually glandular-hairy peduncles; 

 perianth 5-cleft; stamens 8. Himalaya region and 

 Ceylon to China, Japan, and the Philippines. 



EEEE. Fls. white or greenish, in axillary clustered racemes 

 or panicles or cymes: plants grown often for their 

 general foliage effects and bold habit, mostly tall 

 and sometimes woody. (More or less dioecious or 

 polygamous.) 



F. Lvs. mostly on the lanceolate order, sometimes ovate, 

 usually taper-based. 



16. polystachyum, Wall. Shrubby, glabrous, or 

 pubescent perennial, 3-6 ft., the branches grooved: Ivs. 



