I IO 
POLYGONUM 
I. *POLYGONUM FAGOPYRUM. Buckwheat. Plate 115 
Tragopyrum Gerard Herb. 82 (1597) ; Fegopyrum Ray Syn. ed. 3, 144 (1724). 
Polygonum fagopyrum L. Sp. PI. 364 (1753)!; Martyn FI. Rust. no. 46 (1792); Syme Eng. Bot. 
viii, 59 (1868); Rouy FI. France xii, 93 (1910); Fagopyrum sagittatum Gilibert Exerc. Phyt. ii, 435 (1792); F. 
esculentum Moench Meth. PI. 290 (1794); Fagopyrum fagopyrum Karsten Deut. FI. 522 (1883). 
leones: — Miller Illustr. Syst.\ Eng. Bot. t. 1044; Beck in Reichenbach Icon. t. 227, as Fagopyrum sagit- 
tatum. 
Camb. Brit. FI. ii. Plate iij. ( a ) Flowering shoot, (b) Flowers (enlarged). ( c ) Persistent perianth and 
achene (enlarged), (d) Pistil (enlarged). Huntingdonshire (E. W. H.). 
Annual. Stem erect, not climbing, about 3 — 4 dm. high. Ochreae short. Petioles of lower 
leaves long, of upper leaves short or none. Laminae cordate, acute. Inflorescence rather lax. 
Flowers dimorphic, long-styled or short-styled; July and August. Perianth white or pink; segments 
as long as the tube, with yellow glands at the base. Stamens 5 — 8. Styles 3, long, ultimately re- 
flexed. Ackenes triquetrous. Seeds brown. 
Locally a common crop, as in the cultivated parts of the Fen District, and spreading into adjoining waste 
places ; also in woods and plantations, where the seeds are scattered as food for the game ; northwards to central 
Scotland. 
More or less naturalised in Europe (excl. Arctic) and occurring up to 1200m. in the Tyrol; said to be 
indigenous in central Asia. 
Section II. TINIARIA 
Tiniaria Meisner Monogr. Polyg. 43 et 62 (1826); in DC. Prodr. xiv, 135 (1856); Dammer in Engler 
und Prantl Pflanzenfam. iii, pt. i a, 29 (1893). [ Fagopyrum Tournefort Inst. 511, t. 290 (1719) as a genus, partim.] 
For characters, see page 109. 
British species of Tiniaria 
2. P. convolvulus (see below). Outer perianth segments not or only narrowly winged, rounded 
or obtuse at the base. Achenes dull, punctate. 
3. P. dumetorum (p. 111). Outer perianth segments broadly winged, attenuate at the base. 
Achenes shining. 
2. POLYGONUM CONVOLVULUS. Black Bindweed. Plates 116, 117 
Volubilis nigra Gerard Herb. 713 (1597); Convolvulus minor atriplicis folio Parkinson Theatr. Bot. 1 7 1 
(1640); Fegopyrum scandens sylvestre Ray Syn. ed. 3, 144 (1724). 
Polygonum convolvulus L. Sp. PL 364 (1753)!; Syme Eng. Bot. viii, 61 (1868); Rouy FI. France 
xii, 93 (1910). 
Annual. Stem about 5 — 10 dm. in length, climbing, slender, angular, ridges puberulous. Petioles 
shorter than the laminae. Laminae cordate-sagittate, acute to acuminate. Inflorescence peduncled, 
interrupted ; partial inflorescences 3 — 6 flowered. Pedicel shorter than the fruit, jointed above the 
middle. Flowers July to September. Perianth greenish-white or pinkish, segments obtuse, white at 
the margin, eventually 5 mm. long, remaining wingless or becoming narrowly winged in fruit. 
Anthers violet. Achenes enclosed by the persistent perianth, which is wingless or narrowly winged, 
punctate, broader than in P. dumetorum and sides less concave, dull, blackish. 
(a) P. convolvulus var. genuinum Syme E?ig. Bot. viii, 61 (1868). 
leones: — Curtis FI. Lond. ii, t. 82, as P. convolvulus ; Smith Eng. Bot. t. 941, as P. convolvulus ; FI. Dan. 
t. 744, as P. convolvulus ; Beck in Reichenbach Icon. t. 222, as P. convolvulus. 
Camb. Brit. FI. ii. Plate 116. (a) Flowering shoot. ( b ) Persistent perianths (enlarged), enclosing ripening 
achenes. Huntingdonshire (E. W. H.). 
Exsiccata : — Linn, herb., as P. convolvulus ; Billot, 1545, as P. convolvulus ; Todaro, 766, as P. convolvulus ; 
Herb. FI. Ingric. iv, 545, as P. convolvulus. 
Stem about 5 — 6 dm. Laminae about as long as broad. Inflorescence few-flowered. Perianth 
segments wingless. 
