Oxygonum.] CIX. POLYGONACE® (BAKER AND WRIGHT). 99 
1. OXYGONUM, Burch.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Pl. iii. 96. 
Flowers polygamous. Perianth-tube in the hermaphrodite flowers 
constricted above the ovary, in the male flowers almost obsolete; limb 
coloured, 5-lobed, marcescent. Stamens 8, inserted on the perianth ; 
filaments filiform; anthers oblong. Ovary included in the perianth- 
tube; styles 3, filiform, connate at the base; stigmas capitate. 
Perianth-tube accrescent in the fruiting stage and hardened, with 
wings or spines on the 8 angles, enclosing the nut. Seed erect, 
turbinate, 3-angled; embryo straight, subcentral in the endosperm ; 
cotyledons flat, oblong; radicle short, superior.—Annual and perennial 
herbs. Leaves alternate, petioled, entire or pinnatifid ; ochre mem- 
branous, truncate. Flowers red or whitish, fascicled in the axils of the 
bracts, forming long lax racemes. 
Species about 11; also in Arabia and extra-tropical South Africa. 
*Fruit without spines. 
Fruit narrowly 3-winged 1. O. Acetosella. 
Fruit broadly 3-winged . : . 2. O. alatum. 
Fruit triquetrous, without wings . 3. O. delagoense. 
Fruit obovoid, 9-ribbed . 4, O. pubescens. 
**Fruit with 3 spreading spines. 
Leaves ovate, entire ; . 5. O. atriplicifolium. 
Leaves ovate, pinnatisect ; . 5. O. atriplicifolium, var. sinuatum. 
Leaves lyrate 6. O. elongatum. 
Leaves lanceolate. 
Stamens exserted. 
Stem glabrous : : . FT. O. Stuhlmannit, 
Stem slightly pubescent; fruit 
pubescent . ; 8. O. salicifolium., 
Stamens included ; fruit glabrous 9. O. fascieulatum. 
1. O. Acetosella, Welw. in Trans. Linn. Soc. xxvii. 60. An 
annual herb, much-branched from the crown of the root. Stems 
ascending, finely pubescent, 6-8 in. long. Leaves lanceolate or rhom- 
boid, 1-14 in. long, entire or with a tooth on each side at the middle, 
narrowed gradually to a short petiole; ochree loose, funnel-shaped, 
pallid, membranous, loosely clasping, not ciliate with bristles. Racemes 
very lax, 3-6 in. long ; flowers 2-3 to a cluster ; pedicels about as long 
as the bract. Perianth-limb pinkish-white, 14 lin. long; tube in fruit 
oblong, with 3 narrow wings.—Ficalho, Pl. Uteis, 244; Hiern in Cat. 
Afr, Pl. Welw. i. 903. 
Lower Guinea. Angola: Mossamedes, in grassy places near the sea-shore, 
Welwitsch, 1757! 
Native name “ Azedas bravas.” 
2. 0. alatum, Burch. Trav. i. 548. An annual herb, much- 
branched from the crown of the root, Stems erect, finely pubescent, 
up to 1 ft. long. Leaves lanceolate or rhomboid, entire or pinnatisect, 
