BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 





A would-be tall but in reality a sprawling plant, with 

 narrow, very long entire leaves, and withered, papery 

 sheaths at the joints. The flowers usually pink, are 

 crowded in thick cylinders. 



DLYGONACE.E BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 



Polygonum Persicaria, L. 



Crimson-pink Lady's Thumb, 



or deep magenta Spotted Knotweed, 



Heartweed. 

 June-October 



Polygonum: for derivation see acre. 



Persicaria: literally, "like a peach," from the resemblance 

 of the leaves. 



i PREFERRED HABITAT: damp ground. 



THE PLANT: generally erect or nearly so, one and one half 

 feet to two feet high; the stem simple or much branched; 



vith no hairs or with very tiny ones, kneed; the sheaths 

 at the knees fringed with short bristles. 



THE LEAVES: alternate; lanceolate or linear-lanceolate; 

 one inch to six inches long; roughish; tapering to a point 

 at both ends; on short stems; conspicuously dotted with 



;lands and usually having a dark blotch near the centre; 

 the margins entire or having the appearance of having 

 en eaten. 



THE FLOWERS: tiny, in spikes or racemes which are one 

 half inch to two inches long, petalless, the coloured part 

 being the calyx. 



FRUIT: achenes, smooth, shining. 



This is very closely allied to the pennsylvanicum, but 

 the flowers are crimson-pink or deep magenta, instead of 

 "pink or white-green"; the leaves are rough and generally 

 marked with a darker green blotch near the centre. 



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