POLYGUXACE.E. (BUCKWHEAT FAMILY.) 407 



f 



SUBORDER III. EKIOGOXEJE. Flowers surrounded by an involucre. 

 Calvx 6-parted. Stamens 9. Ovule sessile. Embryo iiiduded in scarce albu- 

 men. Stipules uone. 

 7. ERIOGONUM. Involucre 5-toothed. Woolly or silky herbs. 



1. RUMEX, 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, and 

 enclosing the 3-augled acheuium, often bearing grain-like prominences on the 

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

 nium 3-angled. Embryo curved on the outside of the albumen. Herbs, 

 with alternate leaves, smooth truncated sheaths, and small green flowers in 

 racemed or panic-led clusters. 



* Flowers jierfect or polygamous. 

 s- Fa/res entire. 



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

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

 petiuled, 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. June -July. 11 Stem 2 -3 high. Lowest 

 leaves 1 long. 



2. R. verticillatUS, L. Smooth ; lowest leaves oblong, obtuse or cor- 

 date at the base, flat, the others lanceolate, acute at each end : panicle naked, 

 loose-flowered ; pedicels slender, thickened upward, reflexed in fruit ; valves 

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

 A-alve. Swamps and ditches, Florida, and northward. May -June. H 

 Stem 1 - 2 high. Lowest leaves 1 - H long. 



3. R. Floridanus, Meisner. 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 del- 

 toid-ovate, obtusely pointed, each bearing a narrow grain, which is much nar- 

 rower than the reticulate valve. Deep river swamps, Florida, and west- 

 ward. June. 11 Stem 2 - 3 high. Leaves i - H long. 



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

 the upper lanceolate, wavy-margined : panicle leafless ; lower whorls distant ; 

 valves oblong, longer than the pedicel, one only prominently grain-bearing. 

 Waste ground. Introduced. June -July. 11 Stem 2 -3 high. Lowest 

 leaves large, variegated witli red veins. 



*- -i- Vnh-es toothed or bristly on the margins. 



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

 long, cordate, mostly obtuse, 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 long as the 

 slender recurved pedicels, one or all more or less prominently grain-bearing. 

 Waste ground. Introduced. June -Aug. 11 Stem 2 -3 high. Lowest 

 leaves l-l-J- long. 



