BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
273 
THE COMMON SORREL. (R. acetosa, Lin.) 
This plant is common in meadows in every part of Great Britain. It closely resembles the common Dock in 
its flowers, but the leaves are smaller and very acid. It is a perennial, and flowers in June. 
SHEEP’S SORREL. (R. acetosella, Lin.) 
This species is nearly as common as the last, but it is found in drier places. In the autumn its leaves 
become red. It is a perennial, and flowers from May till July. 
MOUNTAIN SORREL. (Oxyria reniformis, R. Br.) 
This plant is only found in clefts of rocks, and in moist bogs in the north of England, Wales, and Scotland. 
The plant is a perennial. The leaves are kidney-shaped, and agreeably acid. The flowers are crimson, but very 
small, and they are produced in June and July. 
GENUS II. 
THE POLYGONUM. (Polygonum, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. OCTANDR1A MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Flowers hermaphrodite. Calyx monophyllous, in part abortive. Fruit two or three-cornered, indehiscent, monosper- 
divided, persistent, generally petaloid. Stamens definite, either equal mous nut. ( Meisner.) 
in number to the segments of the calyx, or twice as many, but generally 
Description, &c. —All the species are herbaceous plants, which, though most of them are only common 
weeds, have yet ornamental flowers. The seeds are very nutritious. The name of Polygonum signifies many- 
jointed. The species are divided into two sections. 
§ 1 .—Styles mostly two. Nuts compressed. 
1.—THE AMPHIBIOUS PERSICARIA. (Polygonum ampiiibium, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 436; 2nd ed., t. 566; and our fig. 3, in PI. 52. 
Specific Character. —Styles two, united half-way up. Stamens five. Spike ovate. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. —A beautiful plant which grows abundantly in ponds and ditches, flowering from June till 
September. It is very ornamental in the pond in Kensington Gardens, and its brown glossy fruit forms a 
favourite food for the Swans and other water-fowl. The species is a perennial, with long creeping roots, running 
deep into the mud, and a stem growing three feet or four feet high, so as to raise the leaves and flower-stems 
above the level of the water. 
2. —THE SPOTTED PERSICARIA. (Polygonum Persicaria, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng.'Bot., t. 756 ; 2nd ed., t. 567 ; and our fig. 4, six. Clusters dense, ovate-oblong, eroct, on smooth stalks. Stipulas 
in PI. 52. fringed. (Smith.) 
Specific Character. —Styles two, united half-way up. Stamens 
Description, &c. —This very common plant generally springs up in gardens and other cultivated places, 
which are somewhat neglected and rather damp. It is an annual, and it produces its pink and white flowers in 
July and August. It is a slender plant, growing two feet or three feet high, with a branched stem, and smooth 
leaves, that are generally marked with a dark spot in the shape of a horse-shoe. There is a nearly allied species, 
or perhaps only a variety called P. lapathifolium, the flowers of which are of a yellowish green. 
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