080 i'0i.Y(iONACi:-i:. (ni:cK\viii:AT ia.mily.) 



long ns the sKnilcr ivciirvi'd pedicels, one or all more or less prominently prnin- 

 bearin;j. (R. divarieatus, Ell.) — Waste ;:n)iiiid, nroiiiid d\velliii;^8. Iiitroduei d. 

 June - Au^'. IJ.— Stem 2° - 3° lii-^-li. Lowest leaves 1° - r\° long, C - 'J' wide, 

 slightly (lenate, and wavy on the margins. 



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

 oblong, somewliat fiddle-shaped, the upper lanceolate, acute ; whorls remote ; 

 valves longer than the tliick pedicels, ovate-ol)long, rigid, strongly toothed, more 

 or less ])roniinently grain-bearing. — Around Charleston, FJliotl. Introduced. 

 June and July. 



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

 lanceolate, wavy-niargiiicd, 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. (R persicarioidcs, L.) 

 — Sea-siiores, North Carolina, and northward. Aug. and Sept. (j) — Stems 

 6' - 12' higli. Spikes yellowish. 



, * * Flotcers dioecious. Herbs icith sour Juice. 

 •*- Calyx not enlarged in fruit. 



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

 leaves ol)long, lanceolate, or linear, entire or hastatc-lobcd ; panicle slender, leaf- 

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

 achenium. — Old fields and sterile soil, common. June and July. IJ. — Stems 

 6'- 12' long. Leaves and flowers small. 



■t- +- Inner colijx-lobe.'! dilated in fruit. 



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

 olate or linear, or the lowest oblong, entire or hastate-lobed ; whorls fow-flowered, 

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

 ceous, reticulated, red or white, graniless. — Dry sands, along the coast and in 

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

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



2. POLYGONELLA, Michx. 



Flowers perfect or ditt'ciously polygamous. Calyx corolla-like, deeply .5-parted 

 or 5-sepalous; the three inner sepals mostly enlarging and enclosing the 3-angled 

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

 bryo straight, or nearly so, in the centre, or at one side of the mealy albumen. — 

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

 small ahernatc leaves, and small flowers in spiked racemes. — Siieatiis smooth. 

 Bracts imbricated, top-shaped, mostly 1 -flowered. Pedicels nodding in fniit. 



§ 1. EiTOLYGOXELLA. Filaments all alilce, suhulatc : sti(jmas nearly sessile: 

 Flowers diaciously polygamous : enihri/o in the centre of the albumen. 



1. P. parvifolia, Michx. Shrubby and diiniscly branched at the base; 

 leaves wedge-shaped or linear-spatuhUc, vertical ; those on tlie sterile shoots im- 

 bricated ; sheaths oblicjuely truncate, pointless; racemes short, very numerous, 

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



