POLYGONACE-E. (BUCKWHEAT FAMILY.) 409 



flowers white or pale rose-color, the fertile greenish ; sepals all erect ; valves 

 oval or elliptical, unequal, shorter than the ovate lanceolate acuminate ache- 

 nium. — Dry pine barrens, Florida to South Carolina. Oct. -Nov. — Stem 

 2° -5° high. Leaves V long. Racemes linear, I'-S' long. 



3. P. brachystachya, Meisner. Shrubby ; branches slender ; leaves 

 linear, tapering from the obtuse apex to the base ; panicle compound, leafy ; 

 racemes short, oblong, nearly sessile ; exterior sepals keeled, retlexed ; valves 

 oval, strongly 1-nerved, longer than the rhomboidal achenium, nearly equal. 

 — South Florida. — Branches straight, 1°-U^ long. Leaves 3" -5" long. 

 Racemes i' long. 



4. P. ciliata, Meisner. Stem herbaceous, nearly simple; leaves subu- 

 late, very acute ; sheatlis fringed at the throat with few long bristles; panicle 

 simple, short, leafy at the base ; spikes nearly sessile, filiform ; bracts minute, 

 pointed ; pedicels very short ; sepals oblong, obtuse, spreading longer than 

 the achenium. — South Florida. — Stem 2= high, slender. Leaves I'-Ii' 

 long. 



§ 2. GoxopTRUM. — Filaments unlike, the 3 interior dilated at the base: stijles 

 manifest: Jlowers perfect: embryo at one side of the albumen. 



5. P. Meisneriana, Shuttlw. Stem shrubby, much branche'd ; leaves 

 small, filiform, obtuse ; racemes long, forming small terminal panicles ; bracts 

 loose, oblique, with the points spreading ; exterior sepals recurved ; valves 

 equal, roundish, longer than the ovate acuminate achenium ; three interior 

 filaments inversely sagittate below tlie middle. — Middle districts of Georgia 

 and Alabama. — Stem l°-2°high. Leaves numerous, 2" -3" long. Fruit- 

 ing spikes rigid, 1'- 2' long. Valves largest of all. 



6. P. articulata, Meisner. Annual ; stem much branched, slender ; leaves 

 narrowly linear, obtuse ; racemes numerous, erect, slender ; bracts truncate ; 

 flowers bright rose-color ; sepals oval or roundish, nearly equal, unchanged 

 in fruit ; interior filaments rhombic-ovate at the base. — Dr}' sandy soil, 

 Georgia, and northward. August. — Stem 6'- 12' high. Leaves 4' -8' long. 

 Racemes V - 3' long. 



3. POLYGONUM, L. Knotavekd. 



Flowers perfect. Calyx 5- (rarely 4-) parted, corolla-like, tlie lobes nearly 

 equal, erect and unchanged in fruit. Stamens 3-9: anthers roundi.sh. 

 Styles 2-3, distinct or partly united : stigmas entire. Achenium 3-angled or 

 lenticular, enclosed in tlie persistent calyx. Embryo curved on the outside 

 of the albumen. Radicle slender. — Herbs, with alternate, simple leaves, 

 and sheathing stipules. Flowers commonly white or rose-color, variously 

 disposed. 



§ L Amblyogoxon. — Flowers in closel ij-braeted spikes: stamens 7: sti/le 2- 

 cleft : achenium lenticular : cotyledons incnmbent : albumen meal i/. 



1. P. orientale, L. Hairy; stem tall, branching ; leaves ovate, acumi- 

 nate, petioled ; sheaths loose, salver-form ; spikes panicled, cylindrical, dense, 

 nodding; bracts ovate; flowers large, bright rose-color. — Around dwellings. 



