POLYGONACE^ 251 



of fruiting perianth cordate-ovate, reticulately veined, entire or 

 serrate ; none of them tubercled. Petioles long, channelled. 



Damp Alpine and sub-alpine pastures, generally near huts. July, 

 August. 



Distribution. — Carpathians, Riesengebirge, Eastern, Central, and 

 Western Alps ; Jura, Vosges, Black Forest, Auvergne, Pyrenees ; 

 Western Asia. Naturalised in N. Britain. 



Rumex scutatus L. (Plate XVI.) 



A glaucous species 1-2 feet high, with long rampant rootstock, 

 and numerous slender flexuous leafy stems. Leaves hastate or 

 sagittate with large basal lobes, with long petioles longer than the 

 limb. Flowers bisexual, in few-flowered whorls forming lax spiked 

 panicles. Seed-vessel membranous, sub-orbicular, entire. 



Old walls and stony places in the Alps, sub-Alps, and plains. 

 May to August. 



Distribution. — Central and Southern Europe, Western Asia, 

 N. Africa. Naturalised near Edinburgh. 



Rumex arif alius All. 



Stem 1-3 feet high, leafy. Leaves thin with spreading auricles, 

 ovate-hastate, entire ; root-leaves short and few ; stem-leaves 

 larger, embracing the stem. Flowers dioecious, in long panicles. 



Alpine meadows, pastures, and open woods. June to September. 



Distribution. — Alps, Jura, Vosges, Pyrenees, Corsica, Central 

 and Southern Europe, Caucasus, Siberia. 



Rumex Acetosella L. Sheep-sorrel. 



A slender plant 3-10 inches high, acid and frequently turning red. 

 Leaves petioled and sagittate, the lobes at the base spreading and 

 sometimes toothed ; upper leaves generally linear and nearly 

 sessile. Flowers small, red, dioecious, in slender terminal panicles. 

 Perianth segments small, orbicular, entire and thin, the inner ones 

 closing over the nut. 



Dry pastures, walls, and waste places, from the plains to the 

 High Alps ; common. May to September. 



Distribution. — Temperate regions of the globe, and penetrating far 

 into the Arctic regions. British. 



Polygonum L. 



Herbs with alternate leaves and membranous stipules. Flowers 

 bisexual, in terminal spikes or racemes. Sepals 5, usually petaloid. 

 Stamens 5-8. Styles 2-3. 



About 200 species distributed throughout the globe. 



Polygonum viviparum L. (Plate VL) 

 Stem 4-8 inches high, erect, simple, glabrous Hke the whole 



