OCTANDRIA TRIGYNIA. Polygonum. 113 



Ponds, ditches, or their banks. 



Per. July. 



Ls. smooth, fringed, floating on the water ; out of the water, stems 

 more erect. Ls. narrower, hairy, fl. less numerous. Stem 

 creeping, round, branched below, leafy. Stip. tubular, mem- 

 branous, Ls. stalked, alternate, spear-shaped, or oblong, heart- 

 shaped at the base, acute. Spike erect, fl. -stalk reddish. Bract. 

 egg-shaped, membranous, pointed, Stig. red, globular. Seed 

 compressed. 

 Seed, food for water fowl. Fl. ornamental to pieces of water. 



The only peren. spec. Plant strangely metamorphosed by change 



of situation. 



P. Persicaria.^ Spotted P. Styles two, united half 

 way up. Stamens six. Clusters dense, egg-oblong, 

 erect, on smooth stalks. Stipulas fringed. E, B. 

 756. C. 1. 23. P. maculosa. G. E. 445. 



Ditches, wet fields, watery places. 



An. August. 



Stem erect, about two f., branched, alternate, leafy, often reddish, 

 mostly swollen above each joint. Ls. almost stalkless, spear- 

 shaped, entire, generally marked with a black, horse-shoe spot. 

 Stip, tubular. Fi. rose-coloured, or whitish at the tips. Fl.- 

 stalks springing from the stip. at the stem-joints. 

 Var. (3. L. hoary beneath, y. L. with a silvery hue, both 



common. 



Taste slightly acid, and astringent. Plant dyes a yellow colour 



in woollen. Fl. Suec. 



P. lapathifolium. Pale-Jloivered P, Styles two, distinct. 

 Stamens six. Flower-stalks rough, glandular. Stipu- 

 las beardless. Seeds concave at each side. E. B. 

 1382. Sb. 129. P. pensylvanicum. C. 1. 24, 25. 

 Hydropiper. G. E. 445. 



Cultivated ground, dunghills. 



An. Augtist. 



Several var. 1. with pale whitish _^. 2. red ^. and stem: 3. 

 spotted siJem .■ 4. Is. smooth. 5. Ls. hoary on under side. Spe- 

 cific character rests on the separate styles, rough glandular 

 fl,-stalks, and beardless stip., not fringed. Stem, three f. Spikes 

 thicker than those of P. Persicaria. Ls. egg-spear-shaped, 

 uppermost dotted beneath with minute glands. Fruit-stalks 

 covered with minutely stalked yellowish globules. 

 Var. y. salicifolium. Sb. 

 Seeds food for small birds. 



P. Hydropiper.^ Biting P. Styles two, forked, united 



' From the resemblance of the /. (o those of the peach (PersicaS) 

 2 i. e. Water pepper. 



I 



