Knot-grass.
Polygonum.
A most common wild plant in our fields, path ways, and hedges: there are two or three kinds of it, but they pretty much resemble one another in form, and in virtues: the largest is the best. The stalks of this are ten inches long, round, jointed, and of a dusky green. The leaves are of an oval form, of a bluish green colour, and not indented at the edges. The stalks lie upon the ground, and one of these only grows at each joint. The flowers are small and white, but with a tinge of reddish. The seed is single, black, and three-cornered.
It has been observed before, that Providence has in general made the most common plants the most useful. A decoction of knot-grass roots, stalks, and leaves, is an excellent astringent. It stops bloody stools, and is good against all bleedings, but, in particular, it is a remedy against the bleeding piles, and against the overflowing of the menses
