90 MEMOIRS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE. 
[PLATE 32. ] 
32. Polygonum orientale Linnaeus. 
Polygonum orientale Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 362 (1753); Gmelin, Syst. Nat. 2: 638; Per- 
soon, Syn. 1: 440; Muhlenberg, Cat. 40; Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 272; Eaton, Man. 371; 
Elliott, Bot. 8. C. and Ga. 1: 457; Barton, Comp. Fl. Phil. 188; Sprengel, Syst. 2: 257; 
Torrey, Fl. 1: 405, Comp. 173, Fl. N. Y. 2: 146; Meisner, Monog. 53 and in DC. Prodr. 
14: 123; Beck, Bot. 302; Darlington, Fl. Cest. 251; Eaton & Wright, N. A. Bot. Ed. 8, 
368; A. Gray, Man. 386; Wood, Cl Bk. Ed. 41, 475, Am. Bot. and Fl. 283; Chapman, 
FL. S. States, 388; Darby, Bot. S. States, 489. 
Annual, large, more or less hispid. Stem stout, erect, 4-25 din. tall, terete, becom- 
ing woody below, branching above; leaves ovate or broadly oblong, 6-25 em. long, 1.5—- 
15 em. broad, acuminate, varying from acute to cordate at the base, ciliate, hispidulous 
on the midrib and its lateral branches on both surfaces; petioles 2-8 em. long, slightly 
winged; ocreae cylindric or funnelform at branching nodes, 1-3 cm. long, loose, with or 
without a spreading border at the summit, ciliate; inflorescence paniculate, the ultimate 
divisions ending in spicate more or less geminate racemes; racemes varying from oblong 
to linear, 3-10 cm. long, drooping or sometimes suberect, often slightly interrupted near 
the base; ocreolae funnelform, 3-5 mm. long, very oblique, ciliate; pedicels slender, 5 
mm. long; calyx dark rose-colored, 4-4.5 mm. long, five-cleft to or below the middle; 
stamens seven, exserted or included; style about 1 mm. long, two-cleft to above the 
middle, ending in two large stigmas, included; achene lenticular, 3 mm. long, orbicular 
or broader than high, thickened laterally about the base, biconcave, minutely granular 
and rather dull. 
A native of India. Naturalized in waste places. 
