Polygonum. ] POLYGONACEAE. 399 
rhomboid, obtusely 3-gonous, smooth and shining.—Benth. FI. Austral. V 
(1870) 267; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 589. P. Dryandri Spreng. 
Syst. ii (1825) 255; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 210. P. aviculare var. 
Dryandri Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 236. 
Nortu anp Souru Istanps: From the Great Barrier Island and the East Cape 
southwards to the Bluff, but local in the North Island, most abundant in Canterbury 
and Otago. Sea-level to 3000 ft. November-—March. 
Very closely allied to P. aviculare, but apparently sufficiently distinct in the smaller 
size and more compact habit, smaller flowers, and smaller shining and polished nut. 
A common plant in Australia, tropical Asia, and some parts of Africa. 
3. P. serrulatum Lay. Gen. et Sp. Nov. (1816) 14.— Stems slender, 
herbaceous, sparingly branched, prostrate and rooting below, ascending or 
erect above, glabrous, 9-24in. long or more. Leaves shortly petiolate, 
2-5in. long, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, acuminate, narrowed to a 
rounded or subcordate base, membranous, glabrous or strigose on the mid- 
rib beneath, margins serrulate ; stipules long, closely sheathing, cihate and 
pilose with long erect hairs. Spikes terminal, very slender, simple or spar- 
ingly branched, 1-2 in. long; bracts narrow-turbinate, truncate, margins 
ciliate. Flowers 2-3 to each bract, small, reddish, gin. long. Perianth- 
segments oblong, obtuse, glabrous and eglandular. Stamens 5 or 6. Style- 
branches 2, rarely 3. Nut plano-convex with obtuse margins, rarely 
trigonous, smooth and shining. — Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 589. 
P. minus var. decipiens Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 235. P. prostratum. 
A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. (1832) 177 (not of R. Br.). A. Cunn. Precur. (1838) 
n. 358; Raoul Choir (1846) 42; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 209, 
Norra anp Sours Isnanps, CuarHam Istanps; Abundant along the sides of 
rivers or in lowland swamps from the North Cape to Canterbury. Tutunawar. 
November—March. 
A widely distributed plant, ranging through south Europe, western Asia, Africa, 
and Australia. It differs from P. minus in the larger size, the more slender and much 
more erect habit, and in the longer and more ciliate stipules. 
2. RUMEX Linn. 172%- 
Perennial or annual herbs, very rarely shrubby. Leaves ali radical or 
radical and cauline, often cordate or hastate at the base, entire or toothed 
or almost pinnatifid. Flowers hermaphrodite or less commonly unisexual, 
small, green, in axillary clusters or whorls, often forming simple or panicled 
racemes. Perianth-segments 6, the 3 inner enlarging and closing over the 
fruit, margins entire or toothed, midrib often tubercled. Stamens 6. Ovary 
3-gonous; styles short, filiform; stigmas fimbriate. Nut 3-go0nous, 
included in the enlarged inner perianth-segments, angles acute. Embryo 
lateral. 
A large genus of over 100 species, found in all temperate and many tropical 
countries, and including several common weeds of cultivation. Both the New Zealand 
species are endemic. 
Flowering stems much divaricately branched, 6-18in. high. Inner 
perianth-segments without tubercles, reticulate, margins usually 
with long curved spines He vs J, A. re 
Flowering stems short, stout, depressed, 2-6 in. high. Inner perianth- 
segments tubercled ; margins entire or with 1 or 2 short teeth .. 2. R. neglectus. 
l. A. flexuosus. 
Several species of Rumex from the Northern Hemisphere have been introduced into 
the Dominion, and are now widely diffused, the most abundant being the English 
“docks” R. obtusifolius, R. crispus, and R. viridis; and the “ sheeps’ sorrel ” 
R. acetosella. Descriptions of these will be found in any English Flora, _ 
