Polygonum Convolvulus. Climbing 
Buck- wheat. 
POLYGONUM Lin. Gen. PI. Octandria Trigynia* * 
Cal. o. Gor ; ^-partita* calycina. Son. t. angulatum. 
RaiiSyn. Gen. 5. HeRb.® flore imperfecto seu stamineo vel apetalo potius* 
POLYGONUM Convolvulus foliis cordatis, caule volubili angulato, floribus obtufatis. Lin.SyJl. Vegetabo 
p. 313. Sp. Pl. p. 522. FI Suec. n. 344. 
POLYGONUM caule volubili, foliis fagittatis. Haller . Hijl. n. 1561. 
POLYGONUM Convolvulus. Scopoli FI. Carn. n. 469. 
CONVOLVULUS minor femine triangulo. Baub. Pin. 295. 
HELXINE femine triangulo. IB. II. 157. 
VOLUBILIS nigra. Ger.emac.%63. 
CONVOLVULUS minor Atriplicis folio. Park. iji. 
FEGOPYRUM fcandens fylveftre. RaiiSyn. p. 144. Black Bind- weed. Hudfon FI. Angi ed. 2. p. in. 
Ligbtfoot FI. Scot. 208. ‘ 
RADIX annua, fibrofa, fufea. t ROOT annual, fibrous, of a brown colour* 
CAULIS volubilis, tortus, ramofus, ramis alternis, fulcro | STALK twining, twifted, branched, branches alternate, 
deftitutus, procumbens, pedalis, id na£tus circa % when deftitute of lupport, procumbent and about 
calamos et fi uticulos fcandit flepe ad altitudi- 1 a foot in length, when growing about coni or 
nem ufque humanam. | fhrubs often reaching the height of fix feet. 
FOLIA petiolata, fagittata, glabra, integerrima, inferne | LEAVES ftanding on foot-ftalks, arrow-fhaped, fmooth, 
folitaria, luperne bina et terna, inferioribus | perfectly entire, on the lower part of the ftalk 
frequenter coloratis. | ftanding fingly, on the upper part two and 
% three together, the lowermoft often coloured. 
STIPULE parva;, vagi nantes, mutica. | STIPULE fmall, forming a fheath round the ftalk. 
FLORES racemqfi, pedunculari, in fafciculos pendulos | FLOWERS growing in racemi, ftanding on foot-ftalks, 
difpofiti. t and difpofed in pendulous clufters. 
RACEMI longi, alterni. | FLOWER-BRANCHES long, and alternate. 
CALYX: PerianthiUxM quinquepartitum, perfiftens, f CALYX : a Pbrianthium divided into five fegments, 
laciniis tribus exterioribus majoribus, carinatis, | and permanent, the three outermoft fegments 
viridibus, margine membranaceis, interioribus | larger, keeled, green and membranous on the 
petaliformibus, coloratis, fig. 1. | edge, the innermoft petal-like and coloured. 
* fig’ 1 • 
COROLLA nulla. $ COROLLA none. 
STAMINA: Filamenta ofto, fundo calycis inferta, | STAMINA : eight Filaments fixed into the bottom of 
breviflima, fubulata. Anthers purpures, % the calyx, very fhort and tapering. Antherje 
didyma;. Jig. 3. | purple, formed of two lobes, fie. 2. 
PISTILLUM : Germen viride, triquetrum. Stylus | PISTILLUM : Germen green, three-cornered. Style 
breviflimus, flaminibus paulo brevior. Stigma J very fhort, not quite fo long as the ftamina 
capitatum, tnlobum. jig. 4. f Stigma forming a little head, compofed of 
I three lobes. Jig. 4. 
PERICARPIUM nullum, calyx femen continens. | SEED-VESSEL none, the calyx containing the feed 
SEMEN unicum, trigonum, nigerrimum. Jig. 5. , SEED a flngle one, three-cornered, very black. Jig. j. 
Some of the ancient Botanifts, inattentive to the fruftilication, arrange this plant with the Convolvuli or Bind- 
weeds. Ray calls it Fegopyrum /candens fyhejlrc, hut retains the old Engiijh name of Black Bind-weed. LinnasUs 
claffes it with the Polygon, m, or Knot-graft , in which genus he alfo includes the Bijlorta , the Per/, curio, and the 
Fagopyrum ; he could not, perhaps, fcientifically have made more genera of them ; yet nature, in all our Emti/b 
plants at leaft, keeps up a ftrong diftinSion between them, and as the old eftablilhed names of Bifort, Perficaria 
or Arfmart, Knot-grajs, and Buck-wheat, have no tendency in them to miflead, we have thought it better in the 
prefent ihftance, to continue their ufe, than to adopt the new-fangled names of Buck-wheat Knot-graft, or ’Binding 
Snake-weed. In its fruftification this plant is very fimilar to the Buck-wheat ; but differs in having a twining 
flalk, 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 ; ill poor land it is an humble plant. 
It flowers in July and Augujl. 
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 Ids deftrudtive to 
Caterpillars, and which, like the Cock-roach , is principally adtive under the veil of night. 
