1272 
CIII. POLYGON ACE.®. 
[Polygonum. 
sheathing, much longer than the petiole, bordered by long cilia. Spikes rather 
slender, 1 to 2in. long, usually 2 to 4 on long peduncles in a loose terminal 
panicle. Perianth-segments petal-like, not glandular. Stamens 5. Style- 
branches 2, rather long. Nut lenticular, the sides very convex. — Meissn. in 1)C. 
Prod. xiv. 113 ; Hook. f. FI. Tasm. i. 306. 
Hab.: Brisbane Biver, Moreton Bay, F. v. Mueller, C. Stuart \ Bockhampton, O'Shanesy', 
Boekinghara Bay, Dallachy ; Stanthorpe. 
9. !P. barbatum (bearded), Linn ; Meissn. in DC. Prod. xiv. 104 ; Benth. FI. 
A ustr. v. 270. Stems ascending or erect, glabrous or nearly so, 2 to 3ft. high. 
Leaves lanceolate, contracted into a short petiole although not so short as in P. 
subsessile, 3 to Gin. long, sprinkled with appressed hairs never wanting on the 
midrib underneath. Stipules sheathing, hairy outside, bordered by very long 
cilia. Spikes in the common form compact, 1 to Hin. long, on short peduncles 
in a narrow terminal panicle. Bracts always ciliate on the margin. Stamens 
6 or 6. Style-branches (always ?) 3. Nut triangular. 
Hab.: Boper and Burnett Eivers, F . v. Mueller-, Port Curtis, M‘Gillivray ; and southern 
localities. 
The species is common in tropical Asia and Africa. 
10. I*, articulatum (articulate), R. Br. Prod. 420; Benth. FI. Austr. v. 270. 
Erect and rather stout, the stems glabrous below, hirsute in the upper part with 
appressed hairs. Leaves lanceolate, tapering into long points and contracted 
into rather long petioles, 3 to Gin. long, hirsute on both sides with appressed 
hairs short and strigose on the upper surface, longer and more silky underneath, 
rigid on the margins. Stipules sheathing, long and truncate, without any or only 
with few very short marginal cilia. Spikes few, rather dense, 1 to 2in. long- 
Bracts shortly ciliate. Styles 2. Nut compressed, the sides rather convex. 
Curvature of the embryo in the two seeds examined rather oblique with relation 
0 the cotyledons, but more accumbent than incumbent. — Meissn. in DC. Prod, 
xiv. 117 ; P. australe, Spreng. Syst. ii. 258. 
Hab.: Bi-oadsound and Shoalwater Bay, R. Brown. 
I have not seen this in any other collection, and have not been able to match it with any 
Asiatic species. The habit is that of P. barbatum and P. glabrum, differing from the former in 
want of the long cilia or bristles to the stipules, from the latter in the indumentum, which is 
that of P. subsessile, from which it is removed by the long petioles and the want of cilia in the 
stipules. — Benth. 
11. IP. lapathifolium (Lapathum (Rumex) like), Linn ; Meissn in DC. Prod. 
xiv. 119 ; Benth. FI. Austr. v. 270. Tall erect and glabrous, except sometimes 
very short strigose hairs on the margins and midrib of the leaves, and in some 
varieties a very slight hoariness on their under surface. Leaves lanceolate or 
ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 6 to 8in. long or even larger, contracted into a 
petiole usually exceeding the stipules, the glandular dots of the under surface 
more conspicuous than i-n many species. Stipule sheathing, without marginal 
bristles or rarely with a few very small cilia. Spikes rather slender, from under 
1 to above 2in. long, in a terminal branching more or less leafy panicle. Bracts 
small, truncate or shortly acuminate. Perianth, at least the outer segments, more 
or less glandular, and the prominent glands extending sometimes to the bracts 
and peduncles. Stamens 5 or 6. Styles short with 2 long branches. Nut very 
Hat, the sides concave or rarely slightly convex. Radicle curved towards the 
edge of the cotyledons (accumbent). — P. nodosum, Pers. ; Meissn. in DC. Prod, 
xiv. 118 ; P. glandulosum, R. Br. Prod. 419; Meissn. l.c. 116; P . adcnopliorum , 
Spreng. Syst. ii. 258 ; P. elatius, R. Br. l.c. 419; Meissn. l.c. 121. 
Hab.: Brisbane Biver, C. Stuart ; Nerkool Creek, Bouman ; Armadilla, W. Barton. 
Common in the temperate and subtropical regions of the New and the Old World, especially 
in the northern hemisphere. 
The joints of the claws of this species are sometimes attacked with the fungus. — Ustilago 
emodensis, Berk. 
