POLYGONUM 
1 19 
P. hydropiper x minus [Wilms ex] Beckhaus FI. Westf 77 3 (1893) ; Figert in Allg. Bot. Zeitschr. i, 28 
(1895); Rouy FI. France xii, 106 (1910); x P. martinianum Hy in Bull. Bot. Soc. France lvi, 546 (1909); 
x P. subglandulosum Rouy loc. cit. 
Stem erect. Ochreae lax, with short appressed pubescence ; ciliate. Laminae lanceolate, shining, 
about 1 ’3 mm. broad. Peduncles eglandular. Spikes rather slender, lax-flowered, interrupted, acute. 
Perianth small, pink, feebly glandular. Stamens 6. Achenes rarely formed, rather shining, about 
3 — 4 mm. long. 
Berkshire, Worcestershire. 
Germany, France, central Europe. 
P. hydropiper x nodosum (p. 118). 
P. hydropiper x persicaria Figert in Allg. Bot. Zeitschr. i, 29 (1895); Rouy FI. France xii, 104 
(1910); P. hybridum St Amans FI. Agen. 163 (1821); x P. hybridum Rouy loc. cit. 
Habit approaching that of P. laxiflorum, not or scarcely acrid. Stem erect or decumbent, 
6 — 7 dm. Branches divaricate. Ochreae ciliate. Laminae oblong-lanceolate. Spikes rather stout. 
Perianth pink. Achenes rarely formed, rather larger than in P. laxiflorum. 
Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Derbyshire. 
France, Germany, Switzerland. 
Series v. Minores 
Minores nobis. 
For characters, see page 114. 
British species of Minores 
1 2. P. laxiflorum (see below). Spikes more or less drooping, stout. Achenes large (3 mm. long). 
13. P. minus (p. 120). Spikes erect or nearly so, slender. Achenes small (i'5 mm. long). 
12. POLYGONUM LAXIFLORUM. Plate 127 
Polygonum laxiflorum Weihe in Flora ix, 746 (1826) 1 ; P. mite Hooker FI. Brit. ed. 4, 165 (1838) 
non Schrank nec Persoon ; Boreau FI. Centr. France ii, 558 (1857); Syme Eng. Bot. viii, 73 (1868); Rouy FI. France 
xii, 101 (1910); et auct. pi. sed non Persoon; P. mite subsp. laxiflorum Fries FI. Suec. Mant. ii, 31 (1839). 
leones : — Babington in Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2867, excl. uncoloured figure; FI. Dan. t. 2958, as P. laxiflorum. 
Camb. Brit. FI. ii. Plate 127. ( a ) Flowering branches, (b) Leaves. ( c ) Ochrea. ( d ) Pistils. ( e ) Persistent 
perianth (enlarged), enclosing achene. (f) Achenes (enlarged). Huntingdonshire (E. W. H.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 1064, et 1064 quater, as P. mite; Braun (FI. Austr.-H.), 1833, as P. mite; Hansen, 
1219, as P. intermedium; v. Heurck et Martinis, iv, 186, as P. dubium; Reichenbach, 286, as P. laxiflorum; 
Schultz, ii, 140, as P. mite. 
Annual. Stem erect or suberect, 3 — 6 dm. high, often eventually decumbent and rooting at 
the base, branched. Ochreae loose, strongly ciliate. Petioles almost absent. Laminae broadly 
lanceolate, broadest below the middle, gradually attenuate above, subtruncate at the base, margin 
rather wavy, acute to acuminate, about 5 — 10 cm. long. Spikes more or less interrupted, rather 
lax-flowered, much stouter and more pendant than in P. minus. Flowers July to September. 
Perianth pink, rarely white, nerves faint. Stamens 5 — 6. Style swollen below. Stigmas 2, rarely 3. 
Achenes much larger than in P. minus , about 3 mm. long, as long as the persistent perianth, 
ovate, shining, black. 
Often confused with P. minus var. elatum, from which, however, it may easily be distinguished by its more pendant 
spikes and its larger achenes. 
River-banks, marshes, shallow ditches in rich soil, in lowland districts ; rather rare, but wide- 
spread in eastern England and the south-eastern Midlands, reaching westwards to Dorset, Devonshire, 
and Monmouthshire, and northwards to Nottinghamshire, Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire; not 
certainly known in Wales and Scotland, and only from counties Limerick, Cavan, Leitrim, Armagh 
and Antrim in Ireland. 
1 This is often erroneously cited as “ P. mite Schrank” (cf. page 121) 
