POLYGONACE.E 



POLYGONACE^: BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 



Polygonum acre, HBK. 



White or flesh-colour Water Smartweed. 



August-September 



Polygonum: name from Greek for many a knee, in allusion 



to the numerous joints. 

 Acre: Latin for bitter. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: swampy ground. 



THE PLANT: usually erect or nearly so, seldom prostrate, 

 one foot high or higher; the stem simple or branched, 

 practically hairless. 



THE LEAVES: alternate; lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate; 

 one inch to eight inches long; acuminate at both ends; 

 petioled; conspicuously glandular; entire; hairs on the 

 margins and frequently on the mid-rib below; sheaths de- 

 ciduous, when present cylindric, fringed with long bristles. 



THE FLOWERS: in slender racemes, at the top of the stem. 

 THE FRUIT: achenes, thick, smooth, and shining. 



This is the Polygonum of damp places, with tiny greenish- 

 white flowers in long and slender, continuous clusters. 

 A fairly sure method of identification is to bite the leaves, 

 which have a pungent, puckery taste, that lasts for a few 

 minutes. 



POLYGONACE^E BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 



Polygonum dumetorum, L. 



Green and white Copse Buckwheat, 



False Buckwheat, 

 August-September Hedge Buckwheat. 



Polygonum: for derivation see acre. 

 Dumetorum: Latin for a thicket. 



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