POLYGONUM 
I 2 I 
subsp. mite Schrank 1 FI. Baier. i, 668 (1789); P. mite subsp. strictum Fries FI. Suec. Mant. i, 32 (1839); P. mite 
var. minus Cosson et Germain FI. Env. Paris i, 1 66 (1855). 
Annual. Stem slender, erect or decumbent, i # 5 — 8*o dm., branched, often rooting towards the 
base. Ochreae more or less lax, ciliate. Petioles short or almost absent. Laminae lanceolate, 
usually broadest at or below the middle, margin more or less ciliate, flat, acuminate. Spikes slender, 
often more or less interrupted, erect or only a little inclined. Flowers July to September. Perianth 
usually pink, rarely white, about 2^5 mm. in diameter, segments longer than the tube. Stamens 5 — 6. 
Style rather longer than the stigmas, undivided. Stigmas 2 — 3, globose. Achenes about half as 
large as those of P. mite, as long as the persistent perianth, black, shining ; September and October. 
Map 20. Distribution of P. minus in the British Isles 
(a) P. minus var. elatum comb. nov. ; P. intermedium Ehrhart Beitr. vi, 142 (1791)! nomen; P. dubium 
A. Braun in Flora vii, 359 (1824); Boreau FI. Centr. France ii, 558 (1857); P- brauni Bluff et Fingerhuth 
FI. Germ, i, 509 (1825); P. minus subsp. strictum var. elatum Fries Ft. Suec. Mant. ii, 32 (1839); P. strictum 
var. interruption Meisner in Wallich PI. Asiat. Rar. iii, 57 (1832); Rouy Ft. France xii, 103 (1910). 
leones : — Reichenbach Iconogr. Crit. t. 493, fig. 686, as P. minus ; Ft. Dan. t. 2956, as P. strictum var. elatum-, 
Beck in Reichenbach Icon. t. 212, as P. mite. 
Camb. Brit. Ft. ii. Plate 128. (a, b) Flowering branches. ( c ) Ochreae (enlarged), (d) Persistent perianths 
(enlarged), enclosing achenes. (e) Achenes (enlarged). Isle of Wight (E. W. H.). 
1 Schrank’s name, though usually cited as a binominal, is obviously of some lower rank. It is perhaps arguable whether 
it ought to be cited as a subspecies or as a variety ; but that it is not a binominal is obvious both from the page above 
cited and also from the index of the same work. The application of Schrank’s name to the previous species is apparently 
based on an error of Hooker (toe. cit.). Persoon’s P. mite refers to an American species. 
M. II. 
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