PINK KNOTWEED. 



Polygonum Pennsylvanicum. Buckwheat Family. 



One to four feet high. Stem. Branching. Leaves. Alternate; lance 

 shaped. Flowers, Bright pink; growing in thick, short, erect spikes. 

 Calyx. Mostly five-parted ; the divisions petal -like, pink. Corolla. None. 

 Stamens. Usually eight. Pistil. One, with a two-cleft style. 



In late summer this plant can hardly escape notice. Its 

 erect pink spikes direct attention to some neglected corner in 

 the garden or brighten the field and roadside. The rosy divis- 

 ions of the calyx persist till after the fruit has formed, pressing 

 closely against the dark seed-vessel within. 



AMPHIBIOUS KNOTWEED. 



Polygonum amphibium. Buckwheat Family. 



Growing in water or in mud. Leaves. Usually floating ; thick ; smooth 

 and shining above ; mostly long-stemmed ; somewhat oblong or lance-shaped. 

 Flowers. Small ; bright pink, thickly clustered in a close spike. Calyx. 

 Five-parted; petal-like; pink. Corolla. None. Stamens. Five. Pis- 

 ///._One, with a two-cleft style. 



This plant, as its name indicates, is found both on land and 

 in the water, but usually it may be considered an aquatic. Its 

 rose-colored flower-clusters tremble in the current of the stream 

 and flush the borders of many a pond. 



PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE. 



Lythrum Salicaria. Loosestrife Family. 



Stem. Tall and slender ; four-angled. Leaves. Lance-shaped, with a 

 heart-shaped base ; sometimes whorled in threes. Flowers. Deep purple- 

 pink ; crowded and whorled in an interrupted spike. Calyx. Five to seven - 

 toothed ; with little processes between the teeth. Corolla. Of five or six 

 somewhat wrinkled petals. Stamens. Usually twelve ; in two sets, six 

 longer and six shorter. Pistil. One, varying in size in the different blos- 

 soms, being of three different lengths. 



One who has seen an inland marsh in August aglow with 

 his beautiful plant is almost ready to forgive the Old Country 



