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Plata 55] POLYGONUMOXYEIA 153<br />
Polygonum virginianum, Linn.<br />
A perennial herb. Stems 5 ft. and higher, sparsely hairy ;<br />
branches hollow. Leaves 4-10 in. long, short-stalked, elliptic<br />
or elliptic-lance-shaped, thin, nerves many, slender; stalk<br />
i-1 in. Stipules i-i in. long, tubular, hairy, mouth truncate<br />
and ciliate. Eacemes long-stalked, very long and slender.<br />
Bracts J-l in. long, distant, 2-fid, 2-fiowered. Flower-stalks<br />
i in. long, rigid, stout in fruit. Perianth without glands, thin,<br />
4-partite. Stamens 5, alternating with glands. Styles 2,<br />
long, rigid, hooked, persistent, free to the base. Nut ellipsoid,<br />
flattened, pale brown, as long as the styles.<br />
Locality. In the Jhelum river, 2,000-4,000 ft. ; Pir Panjal,<br />
7,000-10,500 ft.<br />
Distribution. Temperate Himalaya, from Kashmir to<br />
Sikkim, China, Japan, E. United States.<br />
Polygonum viviparum, Linn. Alpine Knotweed, Viviparous<br />
Polygonum.<br />
(Called viviparum because the lower flowers are usually replaced<br />
by bulbils which develop into new plants.)<br />
Kootstock woody. Stem 4-12 in. long, slender, simple.<br />
Boot-leaves long-stalked, linear or linear-oblong, 1-6 in. long,<br />
sharp-pointed or blunt, crenulate, leathery, sometimes hairy<br />
beneath ;<br />
stem-leaves stalkless, erect. Stipules tubular, not<br />
ciliate. Flowers pink, almost erect, in spiciform racemes<br />
1-4 in. long. Bracts egg-shaped, long-pointed, membranous,<br />
open, not tubular nor truncate. Perianth very variable in<br />
size, 4-5-partite, not enlarged in fruit. Stamens included or<br />
protruding. Styles 2-3, long, filiform, slender, free and included<br />
or long and united below. Stigma simple. Nut 3-angular or<br />
biconvex.<br />
Locality. Alpine and subalpine region.<br />
Distribution. From Kashmir to Sikkim, up to 15,000 ft.,<br />
alpine N. and arctic Europe, Asia and America.<br />
OXYRIA, Hill.<br />
(From the Greek oxys, sharp, on account of the sour taste.)<br />
Fig. 8. Oxyria digyna,<br />
Hill. Mountain Sorrel.<br />
(Digyna means having two wives, here 2 styles.)<br />
A hairless fleshy herb. Eootstock tufted, with many erect<br />
stems, 4-18 in. high, usually leafless, nearly simple, stout.<br />
Leaves radical, many, long-stalked, round-heart-shaped or<br />
kidney-shaped, notched at the tip, 1-4 in. diameter, rarely
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