BUCKWHEAT FAMILY. 



279 



^ 1. Stems more or less erect. 

 * Flowers in terminal racemes or spikes. 

 f Sheaths salver-form. 



1. P. orienta'le, L. Tall ; hairy ; leaves ovate-acuraiuate ; sheaths salver- 

 form, ciliate ; stamens 7. 



Oriental Polygonum. Eagged Sailor. Prince's Feather. 



Annual. .Stewi 4-8 feet high, paniculately branched above. Leaves 4-6 inches loug, 

 often subcordate at base ; petioles 1-2 inches in length, somewhat winged by the decur- 

 rence of the leaves ; stipules tubular with the border spreading or reflexed. Racemes 

 numerous, 2-3 inches in length, nodding on hirsute peduncles. Flowers bright purple, 

 rather large, crowded ; pedicels rather longer than the ciliate sheathing bracts. 



Gardens and waste grounds. Native of Asia. July - September. 



Obs. This showy species is sometimes cultivated, alid has become 

 sparingly naturalized. John Bartram probably refers to it, in a letter 

 to Miss Golden, where he says : " The species of Persicary thee men- 

 tions, is what TouRNEFORT brought from the three churches at the foot 

 of Mount Ararat." 



f f Sheaths cylindrical, not ciliate. 



2. P. Pennsylvan'icuin, L. Leaves lanceolate ; sheaths smooth, not 

 ciliate ; spikes oblong, somewhat nodding, on glandular-hispid peduncles ; 

 stamens 5-8. 



Pennsylvanian Polygonum. 



Root annna.\. Stem 2-3 or 4 feet high, smooth below, geniculate, with tumid nodes, 

 paniculately branched above, — the branches glandular-hispid. Leaves 3-6 inches long ; 

 petioles about half an inch long. Stipules scarious. not fringed at summit. Spikes numer- 

 ous, rather large (1-2 Inches long.) Flowers bright palish-purple or rose-colored, in 

 crowded fascicles ; pedicels rather longer than the sheathing bracts. 



Moist grounds, waste places, &c. : throughout the United States. Fl. July- Aug. Fr. 

 Sept. -Oct. 



Obs. This has much general resemblance to the following — usually 

 growing in company with it — and equally worthless. It is, however, a 

 stouter plant, and readily distinguished by the characters above noted, 

 j-f f Sheaths ciliate or fringed with bristles. 



3. P. Persica'ria, L. Leaves lanceolate, usually marked with a dark 

 lunate or triangular spot near the middle ; sheaths somewhat pilose, 

 ciliate at summit ; peduncles smooth ; stamens 6. 



Peach-leaved Polygonum. Lady's thumb. Spotted Knot-weed. 

 Fr. Persicaire. Germ. Flohkraut. Span. Persicaria. 



Root annual. Stem 1-2 feet high, branching, smooth, often purplish. Leaves 2-4 in- 

 ches long, tapering at base to a short petiole. Stipules truncate, fringed with bristles one- 

 fourth to one-third their length. Spikes about an inch long. Sepals purple or bright 

 c: imson. Pedicels about as long as the bracts. 



Waste places, road-sides, &c. : introduced. Native of Europe. Fl. Aug. Fr. Sept. - 

 Octob-r. 



Obs. A very common weed about farm houses, which should be kept 

 in subjection by every neat farmer. 



