720 



THE POLYGONUM FAMILY. 



side. Occasionally there are 3 styles, and the nut is then trian- 

 gular. 



In ditches, on roadsides, in cultivated and waste places, throughout 

 Europe and central and Russian Asia to the Arctic regions. Abun- 

 dant in Britain. Fl. all summer and autumn. It varies much in sta- 

 ture and in colour, in the number and density of the spikes, and in the 

 achenes more or less concave or convex on one or both sides. 



9. Pale Polygonum. 



Polygonum lapathifolium, Linn. 

 (Fig. 869.) 



Fig. 869. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1382.) 



Closely resembles the JPersicaria P., 

 and is probably a mere variety, distin- 

 guished by the pedicels and perianths 

 dotted with small prominent glands. 

 The colour of the plant is usually pale- 

 green, the stipules seldom fringed, and 

 the nuts usually concave on both sides, 

 but these characters are not constant. 



In cornfields and waste places, with 

 nearly the same range as the JPersicaria 

 P., but usually in richer soils, and does 

 not extend so far north. In Britain, 

 recorded from England, Ireland, and 

 southern Scotland. Fl. summer and 

 autumn. Specimens agreeing with the 

 Persicaria P. in everything but the 

 glandular dots, have been described as 

 a third species under the name of P. 

 laxum (Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2822). 



10. Waterpepper Polygonum. Polygonum Hydropiper, 



Linn. (Fig. 870.) 



(Eng. Bot. t, 989.) 



Stature and foliage nearly as in the Persicaria P., but a more 

 slender plant, often decumbent or even creeping at the base, the stipules 

 more fringed at the top, the leaves narrower, and the flowers in slender 

 spikes, often 2 or 3 inches long, more or less nodding, the clusters 

 of flowers almost all distinct, and the lower ones often distant and 



