POLTGONAC&4S. (BUCKWHEAT FAMILY.) 060 



Subordeb III. ERIOGONEiE. Flowers surrounded by an invo- 

 lucre. Calyx 6-parted Stamens 9. Ovule sessile. Embryo included 

 in scarce albumen. .Stipules none. 

 7. EIUOGON'UM. Involucro 5-toothcd. Woolly or silky herbs. 



1. EUMEX, L. Dock. 



Flowers perfect or dioecious. Calyx herbaceous, 6-parted, the 3 outer lobes 

 spreading or recurved, the inner ones (valves) mostly enlarged in fruit, ami 

 enclosing the 3-angled achenium, often bearing grain-like prominences on the 

 outside. Stamens 6 : anthers erect. Styles 3 : stigmas many-cleft. Achenium 

 S-angled. Embryo curved on the outside of the albumen. — Herbs, with alter- 

 nate leaves, smooth truncated sheaths, and small green flowers in raceined or 

 pauicled clusters. 



* Flowers perfect or polygamous. 



•*-• Valves entire. 

 I R. crispus, L. Smooth ; leaves lanceolate, wavy-crisped, acute at 

 both ends, or the lowest truncate or slightly cordate at the base, and long 

 pctiolcd, the uppermost linear; panicle leafy at the base; whorls crowded in 

 fruit ; valves broadly cordate, obtuse, one or all grain-bearing. — Waste ground 

 around dwellings, Florida, and northward. June and July. y. — Stem 2° -3° 

 high. Lowest leaves 1° long. 



2. R. verticillatus, L. Smooth ; lowest leaves oblong, obtuse or cordate 

 at the base, flat, the others lanceolate, acute at each end; panicle naked, loose- 

 flowered ; pedicels slender, thickened upward, reflcxed in fruit ; valves ovate, 

 obtuse, rugose-veined, each bearing a large grain, which is half as wide as the 

 valve. (R Britannicus, E!L) — Swamps and ditches, Florida, and northward. 

 May and June 1J. — Stem 1°- 2° high. Lowest leaves 1°- 1^° long. 



3. R. Floridanus, Meisncr. Smooth ; stem stout, branching ; leaves 

 lanceolate, acute at each end ; panicle naked, dense-flowered ; pedicels about 

 twice as long as the valves, thickened upward, reflexed in fruit; valves deltoid- 

 ovate, obtusely pointed, each bearing a narrow grain, which is much narrower 

 than the reticulate valve. — Deep river-swamps, West and South Florida. June, 

 y. — Stem 2° - 3° high. Leaves £° - 1 £° long. 



4. R. sanguineus, L. Lowest leaves oblong, cordate, acute or obtuse, 

 the upper lanceolate, acute, obtuse or cordate at the base, wavy-margined ; pan- 

 icle leafless; lower whorls distant; pedicels very short; valves oblong, longer 

 than the pedicel, one only prominently grain-bearing. — Around Charleston, 

 Elliott. New Berne, Croom. Introduced. June and July. 1J. — Stem 2° -3° 

 high. Lowest leaves large, variegated with red veins. 



■*- •*- Valves toothed or bristly on the margins. 



5. R. obtusifolius, L. Stem roughish ; lowest leaves large, ovate-oblong, 

 cordate, mostly obtuse, the middle ones oblong, the uppermost lanceolate, acute 

 at each end; panicle large, leafy below; lowest whorls scattered, the upper 

 somewhat crowded ; valves triangular-ovate, toothed near the base, nearly as 



