408 POLYGONACE^E. (BUCKWHEAT FAMILY.) 



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

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

 valves longer than the thick pedicels, ovate-oblong, rigid, strongly toothed, 

 more or less prominently grain-bearing. Around Charleston (Elliott). In- 

 troduced. June - July. 



". R. persicarioides, L. Pubescent; stem low, diffusely branched; 

 leaves lanceolate, wavy-margined, the lower ones somewhat cordate or has- 

 tate at the base, the upper linear; whorls compactly crowded in leafv spikes; 

 valves small, bristly on the margins, nearly covered by the large grain. 

 Coast of North Carolina, and northward. August - Sept. (T) Stems 6'- 12' 

 high. Spikes yellowish. 



* * Flowers dioecious. Herbs with sour juice. 

 H- Calyx not enlarged in fruit. 



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

 leaves oblong, lanceolate, or linear, entire or hastate-lobed ; panicle slender, 

 leafless ; whorls scattered, few-flowered ; valves ovate, graiuless, appressed to 

 the acheuium. Old fields and sterile soil, common. June -July. ^ 

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



*& 



-- -t- Inner calyx lobes dilated in fruit. 



9. R. hastatulus, Baklw. Stems clustered, erect ; leaves glaucous 

 lanceolate or linear, or the lowest oblong, entire or hastate-lobed ; whorls few 

 flowered, scattered, or the upper ones crowded ; valves round-cordate, entira 

 membranaceous, reticulated, red or white, grainless. Dry sands along the 

 coast and in the middle districts, Florida to South Carolina. May- June. 

 Stem 1- l high. Leaves 1'- 2' long, the upper ones mostly entire. 



2. POLYGONELLA, Michx. 



Flowers perfect or diceciously polygamous. Calyx corolla-like, deeply 5- 

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

 the 3-angled achenium. Stamens 8 : anthers roundish. Stigmas 3, capitate. 

 Embryo straight, or nearly so, in the centre, or at one side of the mealy albu- 

 men. Smooth and commonly glaucous herbs or shrubs, with slender branch- 

 ing stems, small alternate leaves, and small flowers in slender racemes. 

 Sheaths smooth. Bracts imbricated, top-shaped, mostly 1 -flowered. Pedicels 

 nodding in fruit. 



1. EurOLYGONELLA. Filaments all alike, subulate : stigmas nearly sessile: 

 flowers dioeciously polygamous : embryo in the centre of the albumen. 



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

 leaves wedge-shaped or linear-spatulate, vertical ; racemes short, corymbose- 

 panicled ; bracts truncate ; flowers white, yellowish, or red ; exterior sepals 

 recurved; valves orbicular, equal, longer than the ovate achenium. Dry 

 sandy soil, near the coast. August - Sept. Stem 1 - 2 high. Leaves |' - 1' 

 long. Racemes \' - 1' long. 



2. P. gracilis, Meisner. Annual ; stem tall and slender, paniculately 

 branched above ; leaves remote, wedge-oblong ; racemes slender, pauicled ; 



