Polygonum amphibium. Amphibious Persicaria. 



POLYGONUM Lin-. Gen. PL Octandria Trigynia. 



Cal. o» Cor. 5-partita, calycina. Sem. i. apgulat'um* 



Rail Syn. Gen. 5. Herb^: flore imperfecto seu stamineo vel Apetalo potius. 



POLYGONUM amphibium, floribus pentandris femidigynis, fpica ' ovata. Lin. Syjl. Vegetab. p* 312. 

 Sp. PL 517. Fl. Suec. n. 341. 



POLYGONUM foliis ovato lanceolatis ciliatis, fpicis Ovatis, Hatter H'ift. n. 1565. 



POTAMOGETON falicis folio. Baub. pin, 193, 



FON TALIS major longifolia. ParkinJ. 1254. 



POTAMOGITON anguftifblium, Ger.' emac. 821. 



PERSICARIA falicis folio perennis. Rati Syn. Perennial Willow-leaved Arfmart, commonly called 

 narrow-leaved Pondweed. Hudfion Fl. Angl. ed. 2. p; 169, Lightfoot Fl. Scot. p. 207. 

 Oeder FL Dan. t. 282. Threlkeld Syn. Slirp. Hiker n. 



RADIX perennis, repens, craffitie culmi triticei majoris, | ROOT perennial, creeping, the rhicknefs of a large 

 e rubro-fufca, ex hortis five agris difficillime | wheaten ffxaw, of a reddifh brown colour, 



eruta. | with the greater! difficulry rooted out of gar- 



I dens or fields, 



CAULIS fefquipedalis et ultra, adfcendens, plcrumque ■% STALK a foot and a half or more in length, bending 

 fimplex, teres, fiftulofus* facpius ruber, geni- | upwards, generally fimple, round, hollow, mod 



culis tumidiufculis. J commonly of a red colour, the joints a little 



I f welled. 



FOLIA petiolata, cordato-lanceolata, hirfutula, ciliata, | LEAVES (landing on footftalks, lanceolate, with a 

 rigidula, faturate viridia, faspe maculata> fob- | heart-draped bafe, ilightly hirfute, edged with 



undulata, alterna, patentia. | hairs, harm to the touch, of a deep green co- 



% lour, often fpotted, fomewhat waved, alternate, 



I and fpreading. 



STIPULE longae, muticae, hirfutge, vaginantes, caulem | STIPULE long, not fringed with hairs at the extre- 

 arcte cingentes. | mity, hirfute, forming a (heath, which clofcly 



I fur rounds the (talk. 



PEDUNCULI folitarii, feu gemini, hirfuti, rubri, ad % FLOWER-STALKS growing fingly, or two together, 

 unum latus compreflo-fulcati, vix terminales. | hirfute, red, on one fide flattened, and ilightly 



t grooved, not properly terminal. 



SPlCiE ruberrimae, primo pyramidales, demum bvatae. | SPIKES of the flowers of a bright red colour, at fir ft 



I pyramidal, afterwards ovate. 



CALYX : Perianthium pedicellatum, quinque-parti- | CALYX : a Perianthium on a footftalk, divided into 

 turn, coloratura, perfiftens, lacimis ovatis, | five fegments, coloured and permanent, the ' 



obtufis. fig." 1. t fegments ovate and obtufe. fa. 1. 



COROLLA nulla. | COROLLA wanting. 



STAMINA: Filamenta quinque, aut fex, fundo % STAMINA : five Filaments inferred into the bottom 

 calycis inferta, fubulata, alba, calyce longiora ; | of the calyx, tapering, white, longer than the 



Anthers didymae ; Pollen album, globo- % calyx ; Anthee/e double ; Pollen white and 



fum. Jig. 2. I globular, fig. 2. 



PISTILLUM : Germen fuboVatum, rubrumj Stylus | PISTILLUM : Germen fomewhat ovate, and of a red 

 ad medium ufque divifus ; Stigmata duo, J colour; Style divided as far as the middle ; 



rotunda. fig. 3. j Stigmata two, round, fig. 3. 



SEMEN ovatum, utrinque compreflum, acutum, niti- t SEED ovate, flattened on each fide, pointed, gloffy, of 

 dum, e nigro caftaneum. fig? 4, | a dark chefnut colour, fig. 4. 



The fpecies of Polygonum here figured acquires the name of amphibium from its growing both on land and in 

 water ; in ponds its leaves ufually float, whence the antient botanifts, regardlefs of its fructification, improperly 

 called it a Pondweed^ thus Caspar Bauhine gives it the name of Potamogeton fialicis Joiio ; Ray very properly 

 corrects this error, and calls it Perficaria Salicis Jolio perennis. 



Of the Perficaria divifion of the genus Polygonum Linntei, this is the' only one that has a perennial root, a cha- 

 racter which at once diitinguiilres it as a fpecies, befides this it has many peculiarities, the leaves are heart- (haped 

 at the bafe, with the edges fringed with hairs, they are alfo harfher to the touch than any of the other Perficaria's, 

 efpecially when the plant grows out of the water, its ftipulae more clofely furround the ffalk, which has gene- 

 rally two fpikes of flowers at its extremity, neither of which are perfectly terminal, thefe fpikes are more pyra- 

 midal when young, and of a brighter red colour than any of the fpecies related to it ; when it grows in the water 

 the whole plant becomes fmoother and is more difpofed to bloffom ; botanifts have alfo obferved that the ftamina, 

 which when the plant grows on land are longer, are here fhorter than the corolla*. 



As a weed few plants are more pernicious, Batterfea Fields, in which this plant abounds, bear fufficient tefti- 

 many to the truth of this aflertion, as its roots not only creep, but penetrate fo deep into the earth that they are 

 feldom or never eradicated ; in the drier part of the fields it leldom flowers, but in certain fpots, where the water 

 has fettled in wet feafons, it flowers abundantly in September. 



From its blollbming thus rarely in arable land it fortunately is a more local plant than many of the fame 

 genus, the feeds of which are either fown or introduced with manure. 



To atone for its mifchievous effects on land, it contributes highly to ornament pcnds, rivers, and pieces of 

 water ; thofe who with to cultivate it for this purpofe need only plant the roots near the water's edge, the plants 

 will quickly find their way into the water, where they muff, be fecured from water-fowl, who are foud of its feeds. 



* This is by no means conftanf. 



