salt marshes, with an erect stem destitute of leaves, and branching
with lateral and terminal, narrow spikes. .
It is an interesting fact, that this plant should be found at the
salt springs along the shore of Lake Onondago, in the interior of
New York, 260 miles from the salt water of the ocean.
<S. ambigua. Mx. A small plant, found in the vicinity of
New Bedford.
$. mucronata- Big. Dwarf Samphire. First described by
Dr. Bigelow. It is also erect and leafless, thicker, and more
fleshy, but much less than the first species, and is in similar
situations.
Dr. Bigelow remarks, that the plants of this genus are used in
producing soda, and on the table as pickles.
ORDER 154. PHYTOLACCEiE. T he P oke T r ib e .
The only genus of this order, north of Pennsylvania, is P hytolacca,
ranked by Jussieu in the preceding order. Because
the berries give a fine red juice like lac, this name is jjiven to the
genus, and thence to the order. Other species grow in North
America, but only one at the North.
P. decandra. L. 10. 10. Poke, or Virginia Poke, or Poke
Weed. This is a large, fleshy plant, often 6 feet high, well known
about hedges and open woods in dryish soils, rising from a very
large root, and bearing large, scattered, and somewhat fleshy
leaves , berries of a dark purple, and very juicy ; a favorite food
of robins and other birds, as they are moving southwards in autumn
to their winter quarters. The violent emetic powers of the root
are well known ; useful in medicine. Bigelow’s u Medical Botany.”
Blossoms in June to August ; flowers in large and long
racemes, so that the dark red berries are finely arranged for
beauty and show.
ORDER 156. POLYGONEjE . T he B uckwheat T r ib e .
Calix inferior, divided, sometimes colored so as to resemble a
corolla, bearing the stamens at its base ; nut naked or covered by
the calyx, commonly triangular; seed generally farinaceous ;
leaves alternate, with stipules round the outside of the petioles ;
flowers sometimes only bearing stamens or pistils, often in racemes
and beautiful, often coarse and unsightly.
P olygonum. L. 8. 3. .
Named from the Greek, many knees or joints, from the form of
the stem. About 70 species have been described, most of which
are natives of Europe, and the north part of Asia ; 24 species
are credited by Nuttall to North America; and 17 species are
found in this State, some of which have been introduced from the
other side of the Atlantic. Some follow man, and make their
home around his dwelling.
P. aviculare. L. Knotgrass. Forming a thick carpet about
houses, and by its seeds supporting small birds, whence its specific
name. Although unlike the grasses, yet, because its stem is
jointed or knotted, and it is eaten by cattle, it is called Knotgrass.
P . persicaria. L. Heartease, or Heartspot. About gardens
and fields, with a dark and rather heart-shaped spot on most
of the leaves.
P. punctatum. Ell. Water-pepper. In moist places, and
about rubbish ; it is only a variety, and ought so to be named,
of P. hydropiper, L. ; it yields a yellow dye, and is strongly
diuretic.
P. hydropiperoides. Mx. Occasionally found about Boston.
Big.
P. sagittatum. L. Prickly or Arrow-shaped Knotweed.