LAKES, RIVERS, DITCHES, ETC. 



109 



Peppermint (Mentha piperita, Huds. M. aqua- 

 tica X spicata). The habitat of this plant is damp 

 places. The plant has the mint habit. There are 

 underground stolons. The whole plant is devoid 

 of hairs, and is more slender and smaller than 

 Spearmint. The leaves are stalked, hairless, or 

 hairy on the veins below, ovate to lance-shaped, 

 oblong, acute, or blunt below, coarsely toothed, 

 the upper leaves not so large. The flowers are 

 lilac, in cylindric spikes, interrupted below, with 

 close whorls, loose, short and blunt. The calyx 

 is glandular, tubular, often red, smooth below, 

 with awl-like, lance-shaped teeth. The plant has 

 a purplish tint, and smells of peppermint. The 

 plant is 1-2 ft. in height, flowering in August and 

 September, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Whorled Watermint {Mentha sati-va, L. = x 

 uerticillata, Huds. = M. aquatica x rubra}. The 

 habitat of this plant is wet places, waste places, 

 marshes. The habit is as in Watermint. The 

 plant is green. The leaves are nearly stalkless, 

 hairy both sides, elliptical, ovate to lance-shaped, 

 oblong, acutely coarsely toothed, the upper leaves 

 smaller, longer than the flowers. The flowers 

 are lilac, in an indeterminate inflorescence, with 

 flowers in axillary, distant whorls, none at the 

 top. The bracteoles are not so long as the 

 flowers, long-pointed. The calyx-teeth are tri- 

 angular, lance-shaped, not so long as the tube, 

 acute, the calyx tubular or bell-shaped. The throat 

 of the calyx is naked. The ultimate flower-stalks, 

 calyx, and corolla are hairy. The plant is 1-3 ft. 

 in height, flowering between July and September, 

 and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Red Mint (Mentha rubra, Sm.). The habitat 

 of this plant is watery places. The plant has been 

 regarded as a variety or sub-species of the last, 

 or as one parent if that be considered a hybrid. 

 The stem and veins of the leaves are purple or red 

 (hence rubra). The leaves are smooth or have a 

 few distant hairs, and are stalked. The flowers 

 arc lilac. The ultimate flower-stalks, lower part 

 of the calyx, and corolla are smooth, the calyx- 

 teeth hairy. The plant is 2-5 ft. in height, and is 

 in bloom between July and October, the plant being 

 a herbaceous perennial. 



Mentha gracilis, Sole. This plant, found in 

 Wilts, is regarded as a variety of M. gentilis, L., 

 or as a form of M. rubra, Huds. It is more slender, 

 with the leaves more or less devoid of stalks, and 

 green. The stem is hairy below. The leaves are 

 oblong to lance - shaped, smooth or with a few 

 hairs, the flowers in separate whorls, the lower 

 bracts short - stalked, 5-6 times as long as the 

 distant whorls, smaller and narrower than the 

 leaves. The bracteoles are equal to or exceed the 

 flowers. The calyx is fringed with hairs. The 

 ultimate flower-stalks and corolla are smooth. 



Marsh Woundwort (Stachys palustris, L.). 

 The habitat of this plant is river-banks, moist 

 places, fields. The habit is erect. The stem is 

 4-angled, hollow, stout, with fine, turned -back 

 hairs, less coarse than in the common Woundwort. 

 The stem-leaves are opposite, shortly-stalked or 

 stalkless, ovate, oblong to lance-shaped, narrow, 



linear, more or less heart-shaped below, scalloped 

 to coarsely toothed. The lower leaves are short- 

 stalked, the upper stalkless. The flowers are 

 dull-purple, in whorls of 8-10, with lance- shaped, 

 acute calyx-teeth, which are spinous, and minute 

 bracts. The nutlets are shining, with small dots. 

 The plant is 1-3 ft. in height, flowering from July 

 to September, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Stachys ambigua, Sm. This hybrid (between 

 S. sylvatica and S. palustris) has been found in 64 

 vice-counties from the Shetlands to W. Cornwall, 

 and in Ireland (17), and the Channel Islands. It 

 is not uncommon. The habitat is cultivated ground. 

 The leaves are shortly-stalked, narrower than in 

 the last, ovate to lance-shaped, heart-shaped below, 

 coarsely toothed. The leaf-stalks may be half as 

 long as the leaves. 



ORDER POLYGONACE^E 



Water-pepper (Polygonum Hydropiper, L.). 

 The habitat of this species is watery places. The 

 habit is more or less erect, from a prostrate base. 

 The stem is creeping, rooting below, much 

 branched. The leaves are shortly-stalked, lance- 

 shaped, elliptic, wavy, more or less acute, glandu- 

 lar below, fringed with hairs, with smooth ocrese, 

 which are short, swollen, fringed with hairs, or 

 not. The flowers are greenish-pink, in curved, loose 

 racemes, which are interrupted, slender and droop- 

 ing above, rarely erect. The green and rose 

 periantli has a few large glands. There are 6-8 

 stamens, 2 functionless. The 2-3 styles are nearly 

 distinct or free. The fruit is large, flattened, 

 plano-convex, or 3-angled, as long as the perianth, 

 opaque, black, dotted, rough, ovate-acute. The 

 plant is 1-3 ft. high, flowering in August and Sep- 

 tember, and is a herbaceous annual. 



Polygonum mite, Schrank. The habitat of this 

 species is wet places. The habit is more or less 

 erect, prostrate below. The stem roots at the 

 base, and is branched and slender. The leaves 

 are shortly-stalked, lance-shaped, wavy, elliptic, 

 more or less acute, fringed with hairs, glandless, 

 with loose, funnel-shaped ocreae or stipules, 

 strongly fringed with hairs. The flowers are 

 greenish-pink, in slender, more or less erect, long, 

 loose, solitary, interrupted spikes or racemes, 

 thickened upwards, leafy below, with sepals or 

 perianth white, with faint nerves, without glands. 

 There are 5-6 stamens. The 2-3 styles are con- 

 nected half-way up. The nuts are large, rough, 

 shining, black, narrow, ovate-acute, plano-convex, 

 or 3-angled, as long as the perianth. The plant 

 is 1-2 ft. in height, flowering in August and Sept- 

 ember, and is a herbaceous annual. 



Common Red Persicaria (Polygonum Persicaria, 

 L.). This is a weed of cultivation and waste 

 ground, damp places, native in marshes and on 

 river-banks. The habit is erect or ascending. The 

 stems are branched, with swollen nodes. The 

 leaves are flat, ovate, lance-shaped, spotted, more 

 or less stalkless, acute, fringed with hairs, downy, 

 dotted below, without glands. The stipules are 

 loose, strongly fringed with hairs. The flowers 



