276 66. POLYGONACEE. 
—St. 1—3 feet high, often much branched. Ochrev all fringed. 
Spikes thickening upwards.—Wet places. A. VIII. IX. E. 
8. P. Hydropiper (L.); spikes drooping filiform interrupted, 
1. lanceolate wavy, ochree ventricose glabrous fringed glandular, 
perianths glandular, nut (large) compressed its faces ovate acute 
rugose-punctate opaque convex, styles 2 nearly distinct.—E. B. 
989.—St. 1—3 feet high. Upper ochree funnelshaped, scarcely 
fringed. Nut rounder than in P. mite. Spikes sometimes erect. 
—Wet places. A. VIII. IX. 
9. P. minus (Huds.) ; spikes erect filiform slender lax, |. linear- 
lanceolate plane, ochree close pilose fringed without glands, peri- 
anths without glands, nut (small) compressed its faces ovate acute 
smooth shining convex, styles connected for at least 4 their 
length.— FE. B. 1043.—St. procumbent, diffuse. Spikes ascend- 
ing. Much smaller than P. Hydropiper, fl. and fr. only half the 
size. Ochree all fringed.—8. erectum (Bab.); st. erect, 1. nar- 
rower.—Wet gravelly places. A. VIII. EX. 
*** Ochree 2-lobed. Root fibrous. Nut triquetrous. Stam. 8. 
Styles 3. Fi. axillary, 1—3 together. Avicularia. 
10. P. aviculare (L.) ; 1. lanceolate or elliptical plane stalked, 
ochree lanceolate acute with few distant simple nerves at length 
torn, nut triquetrous striated with ruised points opaque about as 
long as the perianth.—E. B. 1252.—L. usually blunt sometimes 
acute. The varieties are innumerable. FI. either very distant and 
scattered, or so much collected as almost to form a leafy spike. 
St. erect or procumbent. A form with very short jomts and L., 
small fl. and much branched stems occurs on the sandy coasts of 
the south of England; another (P. littorale Lmk) with more nu- 
merous fl., fleshy elongated st. and ]. is found on the sea-shore. 
A corn-field plant with long slightly branched st., very long joints, 
scattered fl., long and much torn ochre, and lnear-lanceolate 
acute 1., is possibly P. virgatum Loisel.— Waste places.—A. V.— 
IX. Knot-grass. 
ll. P. Raii (Bab.); fl. 1—3 together axillary, 7. elliptic-lan- 
ceolate flat, ochree lanceolate acute with few distant simple nerves 
at length torn, nut triquetrous smooth shining longer than the pe- 
rianth —E, B. 8.2305. P. Roberti Loisel.?, Hook. P. dubium 
Deak.—St. long, straggling, prostrate. L. bending towards the 
stem. Resembling P. aviculare in habit, but P. maritimum in 
fruit. Filaments broader at the base. A variety with smaller I. 
and fl. occurs in the Channel Islands. P. Roberti (Lois.) seems 
to include forms of Nos. 10, 11 and 12.—Sandy sea-shores. A. 
VIII. IX. 
12. P. maritimum (L.); fl. 1—3 together axillary, Z. elliptical- 
