Polygonum.] 
CIII. POLYGONACEiE. 
1271 
panicle. Bracts rather thick, truncate, shortly ciliate or entire. Perianth, 
stamens, style, nut and embryo entirely of P. orientate. — Meissn. in DC. Prod, 
xiv. 117. 
Hab.: Islands of the Gulf of Carpentaria, I?. Brown ; Mackay, Cooper’s Creek, and other 
localities, North and South. 
I have not identified this with any Asiatic species, but I am unable to distinguish it from the 
Brasilian P. spectabile, Mart.; Meissn in DC. Prod. xiv. 119, and in Mart FI. Bras. Polygon. 
13. t. 3, in the seeds of which I find the radicle incumbent as in Amblygonum. Meissner has 
not figured the embryo either in this or in P. hispidum. — Benth. 
5. P. prostratum (prostrate), Ft. Br. Prod. 419; Benth. FI. Austr. v. 268. 
A prostrate branching perennial, often woody at the base and rooting at the 
lower nodes, extending to 1 or 2ft., sprinkled with slender appressed hairs or 
nearly glabrous. Leaves lanceolate, contracted into a short petiole 1 to If or 
rarely 2in. long. Stipules sheathing, ciliate with a few long hairs on the back 
and margins. Spikes shortly pedunculate, axillary or rarely terminal, about Jin. 
or rarely fin. long, rather dense. Perianth scarcely 1 line long when in flower, 
slightly enlarged afterwards. Stamens 5 or 6. Style-branches 2, not enclosed 
in the perianth, lenticular, both sides very convex.— Meissn. in DC. Prod. xiv. 
116; Hook. f. FI. Tasm. i. 307. 
Hab.: Eockhampton, O'Slianesy, and in southern localities. 
The species is also in New Zealand. 
6. P. hydropiper (water pepper), Linn ; Meissn. in PC. Prod. xiv. 109. 
Benth. FI. Austr. v. 269. A slender erect or decumbent glabrous annual, 1 to 
2ft. high. Leaves lanceolate, acuminate. Stipules sheathing, rather short, 
ciliate at the top. Spikes slender and interrupted, often several inches long, 
solitary or nearly so at the ends of the stem or branches and often nodding. 
Perianth and often the bracts also dotted with prominent glands. Style branches 
usually 2. Nuts flat. — P.gracile, R. Br. Prod. 419 ; Meissn. in DC. Prod. xiv. 109. 
Hab.: Southern localities. 
The species is widely diffused over Europe, temperate and subtropical Asia and North America. 
1 can perceive no difference between the Australian and many of the northern specimens. — 
Benth. 
7. P. minus (small), Finds : Meissn. in DC. Prod. xiv. Ill ; Benth. FI. Austr. 
v. 269. Rather slender, erect or decumbent, smaller and less branched than P. 
lapathifolium, rarely exceeding 2ft., quite glabrous in the typical form. Leaves 
shortly petiolate, lanceolate, acuminate. Stipules closely sheathing, the margins 
ciliate. Spikes 1 to lfin. long, few in a terminal panicle, more slender than in 
P. lapathifolium, much less so than in P. hydropiper. Bracts small, naked or 
shortly ciliate. Perianth small, not glandular. Stamens 5 or 6. Style-branches 
2 or 3, varying often in the same spike, more frequently 3 than 2. 
— Hook. f. FI. Tasm. i. 306 ; P decipiens , R. Br. Prod. 420 ; Meissn. 
n DC. Prod. xiv. 104. 
Hab.: Brisbane, Burnett, and Burdekin Rivers, F. v. Mueller ; Moreton Island, M' Gillivray ; 
Eockhampton, O'Slianesy : Rockingham Bay, Dallachy ; in the interior, Mitchell. 
The species is very common in the temperate, subtropical, and even tropical regions of the 
Old World, and varies much. In Australia some specimens agree with the commonest European 
forms, in others, chiefly from Queensland, the cilia of the stipules are longer, there are a few 
small strigose hairs on the under side of the leaves; and the pistil is almost always 3-merous. 
These constitute probably (with corresponding European forms) the P. serrulatum, Lag. cited 
from Australia and New Zealand by Meissn. in DC. Prod, xiv. 110. — Benth. 
8. P. subsessile (almost sessile), P. Br. Prod. 419 ; Benth. FI. Austr. v. 269. 
A perennial with an almost woody rhizome and erect loosely branched stems 
attaining 2 or 3ft., the whole plant more or less strigose with appressed hairs, 
short on the upper side of the leaves, longer underneath. Leaves lanceolate, 
acuminate, mostly 3 or 4in. long, contracted into a very short petiole. Stipules 
Past IV. R 
