XXI. 



POLYGONUM BISTORTA. 



Great Bistort, or Snakeweed. 



Class VIII. OcTANDRiA. — Order III. Teigynia. 



Nat. Ord. PolygonejE. 



Gen. Char. Perianth single, petaloid, inferior, coloured, 



in five deep persistent segments. Stamens five to eight. 



Styles two to three. Fruit a two or three-cornered inde- 



hiscent, one-seeded nut. 

 Spec. Char. Stem simple, bearing one spike. Leaves 



ovate, waved ; the radicle ones tapering into a footstalk. 



SYNONYMES. 

 f Bistorta major. Bauh. Pi/t. 192. Ger.Em.'dQQ. Ran Syn. 



(147. 

 Serpentaria mas, seu Bistorta. Fuehs. 773. 

 Polygonum Bistorta. Lin. Sp. PI. 516. 

 French .... Bistorte. 

 Italian .... Bistorta. 



*>'«"**^«"'^j Bistorta. 

 Portuguese ' 



German . . . Natterknceterich ; Weizeukiiajterich ; Natterwurz. 



Dutch Naterwortel ; Slangenwortel ; Hartstonge. 



Danish.... Slangeort. 



Polish ... WezGwnik. 



Swedish . . . Ormrot. 



Description. — The root is perennial, woody, tortuous, dark 

 brown externally and reddish within, about the thickness of the 

 finger, and furnished with numerous slender fibres. The stem 

 is simple, erect, cylindrical, knotted at the joints, striated, 

 smooth, and attains the height of a foot or eighteen inches. 

 'I he leaves are alternate, ovate, entire, smooth, and waved ; the 

 radical ones are large, and gradually tapering into a long foot- 

 stalk ; those of the stem are smaller, clasping, and sub-sessile, 

 each with a long membranous stipule. The flowers are disposed 



