tOLYGONACE.^. 326 



beech, and pyrum, a pear; the fruit resembles in shape a beech-nut. Native 

 of Asia, but here naturalized. A valuable grain cultivated for the flour which 

 is made into /;rt7t-co/ieA- and eaten warm. Sterns 2 — 4feethiirh. Lvs. 2 — -1 in. 

 long, ^ as wide. Fls. numerous, white, vuiy grateful to bees. Buck It heat. 



2. R U ai E X . 



Calyx persistent, of 6 colored sepals, the outer 3 smaller; 

 stamens 6 ; styles 2 ; stigmas many-clelt ; aclienium 3-corner- 

 ed, covered by the 3 inner valve-like sepals. 



The ancient Latin name. Herbs, with flowers in dense, fasciculate 

 panicles, terminal and axillary. Fi). very short. Styles spreading, standing 

 out between the inner sepals. 



* Flowers all perfect. Valves (inner sepals) granullferous. Lapathum. 

 t Valves entire. 



1. R. CRISPUS. 



Leaves lanceolate, waved, acute ; valves (inner sepals) of the calijx entire, 

 ovate, each bearing a tubercle. A weed so conunon as hardly to need de- 

 scription, growing in cultivated grounds, about rubbish, &c., much to the 

 annoyance of the^farmer. Stem 2—3 feet high, smooth, channeled, from a 

 yellow, fusiform root. Flowers numerous, in a large panicle, consisting of 

 many racemes oi' half-whoris, interspersed with leaves. Calyx-valves 3, 

 enclosing the seed, each with a grain on the back. The root is used in medi- 

 cine lor cutaueou.s diseases^ June. Per. Yellow-dock. 



2. R. SANGUl'iN'EUS. 



Leaves petiolale, cordate, lanceolate; valccs of the calyx entire, one of them 

 principally bearing the granule. Stem of a reddish color, branching, leafy, 

 2 — 3 feet iiioh. Leaves smooth, radical ones large, mostly with red veins, 

 somev^fhat cordate, slightly curled at the edges. Flowers in small, distant 

 whorls. Grows in waste and shady places. Introduced. July. IVr. 



Blood ij-veincd Dock. 



3. R. BpaxTA'Nicus. 



ic'iPM broad-lanceolate; joints with nearly obsolete, torn sheaths; floicers 

 polygamous; valves entire, all bearing granules. Aquatic, growing in 

 muddy places. Fvoot yellow internally, large. Stem 3 feet high, furrowed, 

 angular and branched. Leaves large, petiolate, acute. Flowers in verticil- 

 late fascicles, collected into a large, terminal panicle. Pedicels nodding in 

 fruit. Calyx valves large, cordate. July. Per. Water Dock. 



4. R. verticilla'tus. 



Leaves oblong-lanceolate ; valves entire, all bearing granules ; spikes leaf- 

 less, with flowers in half-whorls. An aquatic species of muddy situations. 

 Stem 2 feet hio-h, with long, tubular sheaths and few branches. Leaves 

 long, narrow, a°cute, flat. Whorls few-flowered. Pedicels ^—1 inch long. 

 June. Per. JVakid-spiked Dock. 



5. R. aqua'ticus. 



Leaves lanceolate, acute, lower ones cordate, on long petioles; valves ovate, 

 entire, all of them bearing granules. Ponds and ditches. Root large, very 

 astringent. Stem 3 — 4 feet high. Leaves somewhat glaucous, the lower 

 ones distinctly cordate at base. Flowers verticilhite, in a terminal, leafy 

 panicle. Pedicels nodding. Great Water Dock. 



