114 CIX, POLYGONACEE (BAKER AND wricuT).  [Polygonwm. 
. 22. P. tumidum, Delile, Fl. Lgypt. Illustr. 60, and Mém. Pl. Spont. 
Egypte, 12; Meisn. in DC. Prodr. xiv. 142; Dammer in Engl. Pf. Ost- 
Afr. C. 170. 
Mozamb. Dist. German East Africa: Unyamwesi and Karema, ex 
Dammer. 
Also in Egypt. 
I have been unable to verify the first two references above cited, and do not know 
whether any description accompanied the name. Meisner (/.c.) places this amongst 
the doubtful species. 
3. RUMEX, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Pl. iii. 100. 
Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual. Perianth-segments usually 6, 
three inner much enlarged in fruit, three outer unchanged. Stamens 
6, inserted at the base of the perianth ; filaments short; anthers linear- 
oblong. Ovary trigonous; styles 3, spreading; stigmas fimbriate ; 
ovule solitary, erect. Nut trigonous, included in the persistent 
perianth. Seed similar in shape to the nut; embryo on one side of the 
endosperm, straight or curved; cotyledons linear or oblong.—Leaves 
alternate, often cordate or hastate; ochree membranous. Flowers 1n 
whorls, forming leafy or leafless terminal panicles. 
Species about 100. Cosmopolitan, but most numerous in the temperate regions, 
Leaves hastate. or sagittate. 
Flowers in much-branched panicles. 
Leaves 8 in. long; terminal lobe deltoid . 1. R. abyssinicus. 
Leaves 8 in. long ; terminal lobe linear 1. R. abyssinicus, var. 
Leaves 13-2 in. long; terminal lobe ovate 2. R. maderensis. 
Leaves 1-13 in. long ; terminal lobe linear 3. R. Ellenbeckii. 
Flowers in leafy whorls 4. R. hararensis. 
Leaves not hastate nor sagittate. 
Panicles small, diffuse ; flowers in scattered fas- 
cicles. 
A shrub; leaves oblong or lanceolate . 5. R. nervosus. 
A herb ; leaves deltoid or ovate : : . 6. R. vesicarius. 
Panicles with a few long branches ; flowers in dis- 
tinct pseudo-whorls ‘ ° ° - 7. R. nepalensise 
1. R. abyssinicus, Jacq. Hort. Vind. iii. 48, t. 93. Rootstock 
perennial, 1 in. in diam. Stems annual, erect, up to 12 ft. high, 
fistular, terete, reddish, glabrous. Leaves triangular or ovate, hastate 
at the base, up to 8 in. long and 6 in. wide, glabrous or slightly puberu- 
lous on the under-side of the nerves, thin ; petiole of lower leaves 4 in. 
long, blood-red as are the midribs (Grant); ochree 9 lin. long, 
glabrous. Panicle terminal, much-branched, 1 ft. long; branches 
ascending ; flowers polygamous; pedicels about as long as the perianth, 
slender ; bracteoles lanceolate, scarious. Perianth-lobes elliptic, ? lin- 
long, the 3 outer slightly narrower and more herbaceous than the inner, 
eglandular; the 3 inner increasing in fruit to 3 lin. long and 24 lin. 
wide, cordate at the base, strongly reticulate. Stamens about as long 
