ON POLYGONUM NODOSUM. 87
Lalek, Lebanon (Herb. Kew.), Constantiue (Herb. Hook.), Afghanistan (Herb. GrifF.). Var. p. demnm. Racemes oblong.
lig. Curt. Fl. Lond. fasc. 1 ; E. B. S. 3822 (riglit-hand fig.). Loc. N. London. Woodford, Essex (Herb. Forst.), Tyrol (Hausmann in Herb. Mas. Brit.), Kussia (Tiirczaninow in Herb. Kew.). P. Persicakia, L. Sp. Plant, ed. 1. vol. i. p. 36L
Peduncles wholly and perianths nearly eglandular ; styles con- nected halfway up. Subsp. 1. Persicaria ve'rum.
Branches spreading, divaricate; racemes remote, short, obtuse,
cylindrical. Persicaria maculosa, Gray, 1. c. p. 269. Polygonum Persicaria, var. a. genuinum, Svme, E. B. vol, viii. p.
74. Fig. Eeich. le. Bot. 684 ; Syme, E. B. vol. viii. t. 737. (E. B. 756, repr. in Syme, E. B. vol. viii. p. 738, and Curt. F. L. fasc. 1, probably represent large states.) Exs. Herb. Fl. Ingric. n. 541 ; Reicli. Fl. Germ. Exs. n. 773
(large state). Loc. Abundant.
Var. /?. album. — Perianths greenish-white. Loc. Kilburn. Subsp, 2. nodosum, Pers. (s/;.)
Branches erect ; racemes slender, rather lax attenuated upwards, agglomerated into a thyrsus when young. Stem enlarged at the nodes. P. nodosum, Pers. Syn. p. 1. p. 440 (non Eeich. Bab. nee Auct,
plur.). P. nodosum, Pers., Meisner in DC. Prod. vol. xiv. p. 118 (excl.
synon.). P. biforme, Wahlenb. Fl. Suec. vol. i. p. 242 ; Fries, Mant. vol. ii.
p. 28. P. laxuni, Reich. Fl. Excurs. n. 3696 (non Bab.). P. Persicaria, var. iS. elatnm, Gren. et Godr. Fl. de France, vol.
iii. p. 48 ; Syme, E. B. vol. viii. p. 74. P. Persicaria, var. elatius, Meisner, I. c. Fig. Reich. Ic. Bot. 685 (probably). Exs. Billot, I. c. n. 1063 (" P. Persicaria, L.") ; Van Heurck et
Martinis, PI. Critiques de Belg. fasc. iv. n. 185. Loc. N. London ; Halstead, etc., Essex (Herb. Forst.) ; Henfield (Herb. Borr.) ; Battersea Fields, Surrey (Syme in E. B.) ; BesaQ(;on (Billot, Exs.) ; Chambery (Herb. Gay) ; S. Denis, Hainault (Van Heurck, Exs.). Typical P. Persicaria and both subspecies of P. lapathifoUum, equally admit of forms found on barren soil, more or less prostrate and depau- perate, which have the leaves clothed beneath with short dense white hairs (varieties called incanum), and the racemes often subglobose or ovate. In their normal state these plants will generally be found easily distinguishable. It must, however, be admitted, that while what is held here to be the true P. nodosum of I'ersoon, graduates into the typical con-
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