Field and Woodland Plants

by William S. Furneaux

In the same order we have the Common Orache (Atriplex patula)—a very variable plant, from a few inches to three feet in height, with erect or prostrate stem, and more or less mealy in appearance. Lower leaves triangular, with spreading lobes at the base. Upper leaves narrower, and entire or slightly toothed. Flowers in simple spikes, forming leafy, terminal panicles. They are of two kinds—male and female, either mixed, or collected in separate clusters. Segments of the perianth united, pointed, sometimes toothed, and spotted above. The plant flowers from July to September, and is abundant in most parts, especially near the sea.

The order Polygonaceæ also includes several wayside plants which may be easily distinguished as a group by the following characters:—At the bases of the alternate leaves are membranous stipules that form a sheath round the stem. The flowers are small, arranged in clusters in the axils of the leaves, or in terminal spikes or racemes. The fruit is a small nut, enclosed more or less in the persistent perianth.

Three of the plants to which we refer belong to the genus Polygonum, in which the sheathing stipule is usually fringed at the edge; and the small flowers are either green or red, with a perianth of five segments, and stamens not exceeding eight in number. The little nuts, too, are either flattened or triangular. The three species may be identified by the following summary of their leading features:

The Spotted Persicaria.

1. The Spotted Persicaria (Polygonum Persicaria).—A very common wayside plant, and a weed of almost all cultivated soils, growing from one to two feet high, and flowering from July to October. The leaves have, usually, a dark-coloured patch in the centre; and the stipules are fringed at the top with fine, stiff hairs. The flowers are rose-coloured, with more or less green, arranged in short axillary or terminal spikes without any leaves; and the nuts are rather thick, but flattened, smooth, and glossy.

2. Pale-flowered Persicaria (P. lapathifolium).—Very similar to the Spotted Persicaria, and sometimes regarded as a variety of that species; but it differs in that its leaves are never spotted, and the lower stipules are not fringed with hairs. The peduncle and perianth, which are smooth in P. persicaria, are here rough, being dotted with small, projecting glands; and the styles, which are united to about half way up in the last species, are quite free in the present one. The flowers are pink, with more or less green, and do not usually bloom after August; and the plant often attains a length of three or four feet.

3. Knot-grass or Knot-weed (P. aviculare).—A very common procumbent weed, with wiry stems from one to two or three feet long. The leaves, seldom as much as an inch in length, are narrow, oblong, and flat; and the stipules are white, membranous, more or less cut at the edges, with a few veins. The flowers are small, very variable in colour, arranged in short-stalked clusters of about three or four in the axils of nearly all the leaves; and the fruit is a triangular nut, shorter than the segments of the perianth. This plant flowers from July to September. An erect variety, growing to a height of two feet or more, may be seen in cornfields.

The same order includes the well-known Docks (Rumex), which differ from Persicaria as follows:—The root is very thick, and grows to a great depth; the stems are erect and furrowed; and the thin membranous stipules, though never fringed with hairs, often become more or less torn. The flowers are small, green, in axillary clusters or terminal racemes, often turning red as the fruit ripens. The perianth is deeply divided into five segments, three of which become enlarged and close over the triangular nut. Two species of this genus are abundant on waysides. They are:—

1. The Broad-leaved Dock (Rumex obtusifolius).—A stout plant, two or three feet high, and slightly branched. The lower leaves are ovate, cordate at the base, blunt, often eight or nine inches long; and the upper ones narrow and pointed. The flowers are perfect, reddish green, in distant whorls, forming a terminal raceme which is leafless above. The inner segment of the perianth is enlarged, ovate, distinctly toothed, with a long point. Time of flowering—July to September.