Polygonum Convolvulus. Climbing 



buc k-whe a t. 



POLYGONUM Lin. Gen. PL OctAndria Tr1gyn*a. 



Cal. o. Cor, 5-partita, calycina. Scm. i. ahgulatuiti. 



RaiiSyn. Gen. 5. Herb^e flore impeRfecto seu stamineo veL apetAlo potius, 



POLYGONUM Convolvulus foliis cordatis, caule volubili angtilato, floribus obtufatisi Lin.SyJl. Vegetah 

 p. 313. Sp. PL p. 522. FL Suec. n. 344. 



POLYGONUM caule volubili, foliis fagittatis. Hatter* Hifi. n. 1561. 



POLYGONUM Convolvulus. Scopoll FL Cam, n. 469. 



CONVOLVULUS minor femine triangulo. Bank Pin. 295. 



HELXINE femine triangulo, IB. II. 157. 



VOLUBILIS nigra. Ger. emac. 863. 



CONVOLVULUS minor Atriplicls folio. Park. 171. 



FEGOPYRUM fcandens fylveftre. RaiiSyn. p. 144. Black Bind- weed. Hudjbn FL Angh ed. 2. p. 171. 

 Lightfoot FL Scot. 208. 



RADIX annua, fibrofa, fufca. f ROOT annual, fibrous* of a brown colour, 



CAULIS volubilis, tortus, ramofus, ramis alternis, fulcro| STALK twining, twifted, branched, branches alternate, 

 deftitutus, procumbens, pedalis, id naclus circa t when deftitute of ill pport, procumbent and about 



calamos et fruticulos fcandit faspe ad altitudi-I a foot in length, when growing about corn or 



nem ufque humanam. $ ihrubs often reaching the height of fix feet. 



FOLIA petioiata, fagittata, glabra, integerrima, inferne | LEAVES ftanding on foot-ftalks, arrow- fhaped, fmooth, 

 folitaria, fuperne bina et terna, inferioribus f perfectly entire, on the lower part of the ftalk 



frequenter coloratis. | Handing fmgly, on the upper part two and 



I three together, the lowermoft often coloured. 



STIPULE parvae, vaginantes, muticse. $ STIPUL^E fmall, forming a fheath round the ftalk. 



FLORES racemofi, pedunculati, in fafciculos pendulos I FLOWERS growing in racemi, ftanding on foot-ftalks, 

 difpofiti. f and difpofed in pendulous clufters. 



RACEMI longi, alterni. | FLOWER-BRANCHES long, and alternate. 



CALYX: Perianthium quinquepartitum, perfiftens, $ CALYX 1 a Perianthium divided into five fegmeiits* 

 laciniis tribus exterioribus majoribus, carinatis, | and permanent, the three outermoft fegments 



viridibus, margine membranaceis, interioribus | larger^ keeled, green and membranous on the 1 



petaliformibus, coloratis. fig* 1. | edge, the innermoft petal-like and coloured. 



I fig- 1- 



COROLLA nulla. \ COROLLA none. 



STAMINA: Filament a odto, fundo Calycis iiiferta, | STAMINA : eight Filaments fixed into the bottom of 

 breviffima, fubulata. Anthers purpurea, % the calyx, very fhort and tapering. Ant her^s 



didymas. fig. 3. | purple, formed of two lobes, fig. 3. 



PISTILLUM : Germen viride, triquetrum. Stylus | PISTILLUM : Germen green, three-cornered. Style 

 breviffimus, ftaminibus paUlo brevior. Stigma? very fhort, not quite fo long as the ftamina; 



capitatum* trilobum. fig. 4. Stigma forming a little head* compofed of 



f three lobes, fig. 4. 



PERICARPIUM nullum, calyx femen continens* | SEED-VESSEL none, the calyx containing the feed. 



SEMEN unicum, trigonum, nigerrimum. fig, 5, % SEED a fingle one, three-cornered, very black, fig. 5, 



Some of the ancient Botanifts, inattentive to the fructification, arrange this plant with the Ccnvohutt of Bind- 

 weeds. ^ Ray calls it Fegopyrum fcandens Jylvefire, but retains the old Engli/h name of Black Blnd-iveed. LinnjeI's 

 clafles it with the Polygonum, or Knot-graft, in which genus he alfo includes the Bijlorta, the Perficaria, and the 

 Fagopyrum ; he could not, perhaps, fcientifically have made more genera of them ; yet nature, in all our Rmlifh 

 plants at leaft, keeps up a ftrong diftinclion between them, and as the old eftabliihed names of Bifiort, Perficaria 

 or Arfmart, Knot-grajs, and Buck-wheat, have no tendency in them to miflead, we have thought it better, in the 

 prefent inftance, to continue their ufe, than to adopt the new-fangled names of Buck-wheat Knot-grafs, or Binding 

 Snake-weed. In its fructification this plant is very fimilar to the Buck-wheat ; but differs in having a twitting 

 ftalk, with which it frequently twifts round other plants, and proves injurious to them, efpecially in gardens and 

 cultivated fields, where it often grows extremely rampant ; in poor land it is an humble plant. 



It flowers in July and Augufi. 



Its feeds afford excellent food for fmall birds. One year I obferved its foliage, together with that of the Paffion 

 Flower, very much eaten by the Ear-wig, a well, known enemy to certain flowers, and no k& destructive to 

 Caterpillars, and which, like the Cock-roach, is principally active under the veil of night. 



