386 rOLYGONACE^E. (liUCKAVIIEAT FAMILY.) 



long as the slender recurved pedicels, one or all more or less prominently prain- 

 bcaiing. (R. dlvaricatus, Ell.) — Waste ground, around dwellings. Introduced. 

 June -Aug. y.— Stem 2° -3° high. Lowest leaves 1° - U° long, 6' -9' wide, 

 slightly crenate, and wavy on the margins. 



6. R. pulcher, L. Branches rigid, spreading ; lowest leaves cordate- 

 oblong, soiucwliat liddlc-shaped, the upper lanceolate, acute ; whorls remote ; 

 valves longer than the thick pedicels, ovate-oblong, rigid, strongly toothed, more 

 or less prominently grain-bearing. — Around Cliarlcston, Elliott. Introduced. 

 June and July. 



7. R. maritimus, L. Pubescent ; stem low, difTusely branched ; leaves 

 lanceolate, wavy-margined, the lower ones somewhat cordate or hastate at the 

 base, the upper linear ; whorls compactly crowded in leafy spikes ; valves small, 

 bristly on the margins, nearly covered by the large grain. (U persicarioides, A.) 

 — Sea-shores, North Carolina, and northward. Aug. and Sept. Q; — Stems 

 6' - 1 2' high. Spikes yellowish. 



* * Flowers diacious. Herbs with sour juice. 

 -t- Calyx not enlarged in fruit. 



8. R. Aeetosella, L. Root creeping ; stems low, erect or ascending ; 

 leaves oblong, lanceolate, or linear, entire or hastatc-lobed ; panicle slender, leaf- 

 less ; whorls scattered, few-flowered ; valves ovate, grainless, appressed to the 

 acheniuni. — Old fields and sterile soil, common. June and July. 1|. — Stems 

 C - 12' long. Leaves and flowers small. 



•*- ■*- Inner calyx-lobes dilated in fruit. 



9. R. hastatulus, Baklw. Stems clustered, erect ; leaves glaucous, lance- 

 olate or linear, or the lowest oblong, entire or hastate-lobcd ; whorls few-flowered, 

 scattered, or the upper ones crowded; valves round-cordate, entire, membrana- 

 ceous, reticulated, red or white, grainless. — Dry sands, along the va-.x^l and in 

 the middle districts, Florida to South Carolina. May and June. — Stem 1° - 1 ^° 

 high. Leaves l'-2' long, the upper ones mostly entire. 



2. POLYGONELLA, Michx. 



Flowers perfect or dia'ciously ])alygamous. Calyx corolla-like, deeply r)-partcd 

 or .5-scpalous ; the three inner sepals mostly enlarging and endowing the 3-anglcd 

 aciicniuin, glandless. Stamens 8 : anthers roundish. Stigmas 3, capitate. Em- 

 bryo straight, or nearly so, in the centre, or at one side of tlie mealy all>unien. — 

 Smooili and commonly glaucous herbs or shrubs, with slender branching stems, 

 small alternate leaves, and small flowers in spiked i-accmcs. — Siicatiis smooth. 

 Bracts imbricated, top-shaped, mostly 1-flowercil. rciliccis nodding in fiiiit. 



§ I. EiTOLYGONKLLA. Filaments all alike, subultite : stif/was nrarlij sessile: 

 Flowers diaciousli/ polyr/anious : embryo in the centre of the albumen. 



1. P. parvifolia, Michx. Sinul)by and diffusely branched at the base; 

 leaves wedgc-siiaped or lincar-spatuhUe, vertical ; those on tiic sterile shoots im- 

 bricated ; slienths obliquely truncate, pointless ; racemes short, very nnmerons, 

 somewhat crowded in an olilong or corymbose panicle ; bracts truncate ; flowers 



