110 FLOIJA OF .JAMAICA Polygonum 



1. Flower-clusters in spike-like racemes. 



1. P. punctatum Ell. Sketch i. 455 {before Nov. 1817); 

 punctate with sessile glands ; stipules sparsely puberulous, ciliate 

 with long slender bristles. Siiiall in 3Iem. Cohimh. Coll. i. 88, 

 t. 31 (1895). P. acre Kunth in H. B. d- K. Nov. Gen. d: % //. 

 179 (Dec. 1817) ; ^lehn. in DC. ProfJr. xiv. 107 ; Gri^ch. Fl. Br. 

 W. Iml. 161 ; Lindau in TJrh. Symh. Ant. i. 212 (excl. P. Persicaria 

 Lun.) : TJrh. Symh. Ant. iv. 211. Persicaria procumbens &c. 

 Sloane Cat. 48 & Hist. i. 17, t. 3,/. 1. (Fig. 33.) 



Banks of Rio Cobre, Sloane Herb. ii. 105 ! Fort Stewart, Metcalfe ! 

 Ferry, Spanish Town Road, Campbell ! Brandon Hill Road, Thompson ! 

 Hope, 700 ft. ; Rapine Corner ; Harris ! Rio Cobre, near Bog Walk, Harris 

 (& Britton ! Fl. Jam. 5850, 6966, 8075, 8091, 8307, 10,531. Bermuda, Cuba, 

 Hispaniola, Porto Rico, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Vincent, 

 Trinidad, continental America (from Canada to Paraguay). 



Plant very variable in size. Stem ascending, glabrous. Leaves lanceo- 

 late, acuminate, narrowing to the base, glabrous but pubescent on margin 

 and nerve, shortly stalked, pellucid-punctate, generally 8-13 cm. (incl. 

 stalk). Racemes 1-3, erect, slender, more or less interrupted at base, 

 5-8 cm. 1. Bracts funnel-shaped, truncate, margin sometimes with short 

 bristles, with 1 to 4 flowers, pedicels at length exserted. Flowers white. 

 Perianth 5-partite ; stamens 8, included ; style 3-fid. Nttt 3-angled, 3 mm. 1. 



2. P. acuminatum B. B. d K. Nov. Gen. d Sj). ii. 17 S (1817) ; 

 not glandular-punctate ; stipules hispid, ciliate with long bristles. 

 3Ieisn. in DC. Prodr. xiv. 114 ; Griseh. lac. cit. ; Lindau loc. cit. ; 

 TJrh. torn. cit. 212. 



Distin ! lagoons above Ferry, Purdie ! banks of Ferry River, 100 ft. ; 

 Harris ! Fl. Jam. 9044. Cuba, Porto Rico, Guadeloupe, Martinique, 

 Trinidad, continental America. 



Stem glabrate ; younger branches often hispid. Leaves lanceolate, 

 acuminate, narrowed to base, hispid with short hairs, at length glabrescent 

 except on the margin and nerves, to 20 cm. 1. Racemes geminate or 

 branched, linear, continuous, 5-9 cm. 1. Peduncles hispid near apex or 

 glabrescent. Bracts contiguous, ciliate with long bristles, funnel-shaped, 

 truncate, several-flowered ; pedicels exserted. Floivers white, 2*5 mm. 1. 

 Perianth 4-5-partite ; stamens 5-8 included ; style 3-fid (occasionally 2-fid) 

 included. Nut 3-angled (sometimes biconvex), smooth. 



3. P. mexieanum Small in Bull. Torr. CI. xix. 356 (1892); 

 branches below glabrous, above hispidulous becoming glandular ; 

 peduncles glandular-hispidulous ; stipules without cilia ; leaves 

 linear-lanceolate. Small in Mem. Columh. Coll. i. 60, t. 17. 

 P. pensylvanicum Lindau torn. cit. 213 (1899) (non Linn.) ; TJrh. 

 loc. cit. 



Shettlewood, Fawcett ! Louisiana, Texas, Mexico. 



Stem erect, more or less branched. Stipules hirtellous on nerves. 

 Leaves shortly stalked, to 14 cm. 1., to 1*5 cm. br., narrowing at both ends, 

 minutely punctate on upper surface, puberulous on both sides, hirtellous 

 on margin and nerve. Racemes 2-4 5 cm. 1., paniculate, slender, continuous 

 or sometimes interrupted at base, dense-flowered. Bracts obliquely funnel- 



