Magenta to Pink 



found pollinia. These bees are very smooth, depending for orna- 

 ment on the metallic sheen of their bodies. An Halictus repeatedly 

 pulled down the labella (lips) of flowers from which pollinia had 

 not been removed ; and the only reason I can assign for its failure 

 to extract pollinia is that it is more hairy than the Augochlora." 



Common Persicaria, Pink Knotweed, or Joint- 

 weed; Smartweed 



{Polygonum Pennsylvanicutn) Buckwheat family 



Flowers — Very small, pink, collected in terminal, dense, narrow, 

 obtuse spikes, i to 2 in. long. Calyx pink or greenish, 5- 

 parted, like petals; no corolla; stamens 8 or less; style 2- 

 parted. Stem .• i to 3 ft. high, simple or branched, often 

 partly red, the joints swollen and sheathed; the branches 

 above, and peduncles glandular. Leaves: Oblong, lance- 

 shaped, entire edged, 2 to 11 in. long, with stout midrib, 

 sharply tapering at tip, rounded into short petioles below. 



Preferred Habitat — Waste places, roadsides, moist soil. 



Flowering Season — ^July — October. 



Distribution — ^Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico; westward to 

 Texas and Minnesota. 



Everywhere we meet this commonest of plants or some of its 

 similar kin, the erect pink spikes brightening roadsides, rubbish 

 heaps, fields, and waste places, from midsummer to frost. The 

 little flowers, which open without method anywhere on the spike 

 they choose, attract many insects, the smaller bees {Andrena) con- 

 spicuous among the host. As the spreading divisions of the peri- 

 anth make nectar-stealing all too easy for ants and other crawlers 

 that would not come in contact with anthers and stigma where 

 they enter a flower near its base, most buckwheat plants whose 

 blossoms secrete sweets protect themselves from theft by coating 

 the upper stems with glandular hairs that effectually discourage 

 the pilferers. Shortly after fertilization, the little rounded, flat- 

 sided fruit begins to form inside the persistent pink calyx. At any 

 time the spike-like racemes contain more bright pink buds and 

 shining seeds than flowers. Familiarity alone breeds contempt 

 for this plant, that certainly possesses much beauty. 



The Lady's Thumb (P. Persicaria), often a troublesome weed, 

 roams over the whole of North America, except at the extreme 

 north — another illustration of the riotous profusion of European 

 floral immigrants rejoicing in the easier struggle for existence 

 here. Its pink spikes are shorter and less slender than those of the 

 preceding taller, but similar species, and its leaves, which are 



88 



