POLYGONUM.] POLYGON ACE^. 345 



Fields and waste places, N. to Shetland ; ascends to near 1,000 ft. in York ; 

 Ireland; Channel Islands; fl. July- Aug. Stem 1-4 ft., decumbent and 

 rooting below, much branched, green red or spotted ; nodes stout, swollen. 

 Leaves 4-6 in., shortly petioled, acuminate, ciliate, glabrous pubescent 

 scaberulous or cottony above and beneath, sometimes glaucous beneath, or 

 with a black blotch above, punctate and sparingly glandular; stipules 

 loose, often ciliate. Racemes 1-3, f-lf in., often panicled, obtuse, stout ; 

 bracts broad, obtuse or cuspidate. Sepals nerved, equalling the obtuse dark 

 fruit. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, N. and W. Asia, India; introd. in 

 America. 



P. LAPATHIFO'LIUM proper; racemes remote, sepals shorter than the fruit. 

 Common. 



Sub-sp. P. MACUIA'TUM, Dyer and Trimen; racemes crowded, sepalslarger than 

 the smaller fruit. P. nodo'sum, Reichb. ; P. lax' urn, Bab. 



5. P. Persica'ria, L: ; annual, racemes usually short dense, leaves 

 ovate or lanceolate, peduncle glabrous, sepals subeglandular, stamens 5-8, 

 styles 2-3 united half way, fruit plano-convex or 3-gonous. Persictiria. 

 Waste moist places, N. to Shetland; ascends to 1,300 ft. in N. England; Ire- 

 laud ; Channel Islands ; fl. July-Oct. Stem 6-18 in., branched, erect or 

 ascending, nodes usually swollen. Leaves subsessile, subacute, ciliolate, 

 often with a black blotch, pubescent and punctate below, eglandular ; 

 stipules ciliate. Racemes ^-1| in., with sometimes a leaf at the base, erect 

 or suberect, peduncled, lateraljsessile. Flowers homogamous ; anthers, outer 

 iiitrorse, inner extrorse. Sepals red or white, equalling the fruit. DISTIMB. 

 Europe (Arctic), N. Africa, N. and W. Asia, India. 



P. Persica'ria proper; branches divaricate, racemes remote short stout, or 

 slender (P. bifor'me, Wahlb.) obtuse cylindric. VAR. P. nodo'sum, Pers. ? 

 branches erect, racemes slender rather lax attenuated upwards, young 

 crowded. P. bifor'me, Bab. 



** Spikes long, lax, slender, interrupted and leafy below. 



6. P. mi'te, Schrarik ; annual, suberect, racemes slender erect, sepals 

 eglandular, stamens 5-6, styles 2-3 united half way, fruit roughish plano- 

 convex or 3-gonous as long as the sepals. 



Wet places, from York southd., local ; fl. Aug.-Sept. Stems 1-2 ft., erect, 

 decumbent at the rooting base, branched, slender. 1 eaves 2-4 in., shortly 

 petioled, lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, subacute, ciliolate, eglaudular ; 

 stipules loose, strongly ciliale. Racemes -3 in., solitary, lax. Sepals whit'e 

 or pink, nerves faint. Fruit black, rather narrow. DISTRIB. Europe 

 (excl. Greece). 



7. P. Hydrop'iper, L. ; annual, suberect, racemes very slender tips 

 drooping, sepals with few very large glands, stamens 6 (rarely 8), styles 2-3 

 free, fruit plano-convex or 3-gonous as long as the sepals. Water-pepper. 

 Watery places from Skye southd. ; ascends to 1,300 ft. in the Lake district ; 



Ireland; Channel Islands; fl. Aug.-Sept. Stem 1-3 ft., creeping and rooting 

 at the base, much branched. Leaves 2-4 in., shortly petioled, lanceolate or 

 elliptic-lanceolate, subacute, ciliolate, minutely glandular beneath ; stipules 

 short, inflated, ciliate or not. Racemes 3-8 in., curved, lax. Sepals green 



