512 CIV. POLYGON ACE ,T;, 



stigma capitate. Fruit a compressed or 3-gonous uiitlet with obtuse or 

 acute angles, covered or nearly covered by the persistent periauth ; 

 pericarp usually hard, shining or dull. Seed albuminous ; embryo lateral 

 or eccentric ; radicle long; cotyledons usually small. — Distkib. Through- 

 out the world ; species about 150. 



Inflorescence axillary; flowers solitary or in small clusters. 



An erect branched undershrub 1. P. salicornioides. 



A diffusely-branched prostrate herb 2. P. plclicjum. 



Inflorescence terminal, racemose, spicate or capitate. 



Inflorescence of sessile or pedicellate flowers in branched 

 spikes or spike-like racemes. 



Racemes stout, compact ; bracts closely iujbricate. 

 Nutlets orbicular or biconvex. 



Si ipulos and bracts eciliate ; whole plant glabrous. 3. P. gld-hnim. 

 Stipules and bracts ciliate ; peduncles strigosely 

 hairy. 



Stipules with a spreading or recurved scabrid 



limb 4. P.limhafum. 



Stipules without a limb 5. P. tomeiifusam. 



Nutlets distinctly trigonous (5. P. serrulatiim. 



Racemes slender, lax ; bracts more or less interrupted. 



Periauth and whole plant gland uhir 7. P. Hydropiper 



var. glandulosissima. 



Perianth eglandular 8. P. mite. 



Inflorescence compressed, capitate. 



Every or almost every head iu the axil of an involucral 



leaf 9. P. alatum. 



Heads not in the axils of involucral leaves. 



A climbing unarmed undershrub ; leaves broadly 



ovate 10. P. chinense 



var. ovalifolla. 

 Erect herbs, more or less armed with minute prickles. 

 Anglos of stem prickly; leaves \-\ in. broad ; bracts 



glabrous 11. P. pcdunndarc 



var. angustissiina. 

 Angles of stem almost without prickles ; leaves 



^-1 in. broad ; bracts subciliate 11. P. pcdunculare 



var. nilagirica. 



1. Polygontiin salicornioides, Janh. 4- Spach, Illusir. PL Orient. 

 V. 2 (1844-4(!) p. 33, t. 123. A low erect branched undershrub ; stem 

 and branches pale, terete, striate, minutely scabrid along the ridges 

 between the stria3. Leaves sessile, very deciduous, small, the lower 

 ovate or oblong-lanceolate, becoming gradually smaller and subulate 

 upwards, the uppermost minute ; stipules membrauous, produced into 

 2 triangular acute lobes. Fruit arising from the upper axils, shortly 

 pedicellate, solitary or 2-3, ei'ect in flowering ; pedicels thick, articulated 

 below tlie perianth. Perianth rosy, 5-partite, the 2 outer segments 

 concave, slightly keeled on tlie back, shorter and slightly narrower than 

 the inner, the 3 inner segments flat. Stamens 8 ; anthers minute. 

 Fruit not seen. Fl. B. I. v. 5, p. 2G ; Meissn. in DC. Prudr. v. 14, 

 p. 90. 



SiNn : Vicari/ ! 



There is but. one sheet in Iferb. Kew. ticketed as above. The specimens on it are 

 very imperfect. — Distuid. Persia. 



2. Polygonum plebejum, 11. Br. Prodr. (1810) p. 420. A 

 diffusely- branclu'd, pi'ostrate herb, often u itli a woody rootstock; branches 



