(BUCKWHEAT FAMILY.) 409 



flowers white or pale rose color, the fertile greenish ; sepals all erect ; valves 

 oval or elliptical, unequal, shorter thaii the ovate-lanceolate acuminate ache- 

 uium. Dry piue barrens, Florida to South Carolina. Oct. -Nov. Stem 

 2 -5 high. Leaves 1' long. Racemes linear, l'-3' long. 



3. P. brachystachya, Meisuer. Shrubby; branches slender; leaves 

 linear, tapering from the obtuse apex to the base ; panicle compound, leafy ; 

 racemes short, oblong, nearly sessile ; exterior sepals keeled, retiexed ; valves 

 oval, strongly 1 -nerved, longer than the rhomboidal achenium, nearly equal. 



-South Florida. Branches straight, l-li long. Leaves 3" -5" long. 

 Racemes ' long. 



4. P. ciliata, Meisuer. Stem herbaceous, nearly simple ; leaves subu- 

 late, very acute ; sheaths fringed at the throat with few long bristles; panicle 

 simple, short, leafy at the base ; spikes nearly sessile, filiform ; bracts minute, 

 pointed; pedicels very short; sepals oblong, obtuse, spreading longer than 

 the achenium. South Florida. Stem 2 high, slender. Leaves I'-l^' 

 long. 



2. GOXOI-TRUM. Filaments unlike, the 3 interior dilated at the base: styles 

 maiiift'xt: flovers perfect: embryo at one side of the albumen. 



5. P. Meisneriana, Shuttlw. Stem shrubby, much branched ; leaves 

 small, filiform, obtuse ; racemes long, forming small termii.al panicles ; bracts 

 loose, oblique, with the points spreading ; exterior sepals recurved ; valves 

 equal, roundish, longer than the ovate acuminate achenium ; three interior 

 filaments inversely sagittate below the middle. Middle districts of Georgia 

 and Alabama. Stem )-2 D high. Leaves numerous, 2" -3" long. Fruit- 

 ing spikes rigid, 1'- 2' long. Valves largest of all. 



6. P. articulata, Meisuer. Annual ; stem much branched, slender; leaves 

 narrowly linear, obtuse ; racemes numerous, erect, slander ; bracts truncate ; 

 flowers bright rose-color; sepals oval or roundish, nearly equal, uncha>ig<"l 

 in fruit; interior filaments rhombic-ovate at the base. Drv sandy soil. 

 Georgia, and northward. August. Stem 6'- 12' high. Leaves 4' - 8' long 

 Racemes l'-3' long. 



3. POLYGONUM, L. KNOT-WEED. 



Flowers perfect. Calyx 5- (rarely 4-) parted, corolla-like, the lobes nearly 

 equal, erect and unchanged in fruit. Stamens 3-9: anthers roundish. 

 Styles 2-3, distinct or partly united: stigmas entire. Achenium 3-angled or 

 lenticular, enclosed in the persistent calyx. Embryo curved on the outside 

 of the albumen. Radicle slender. Herbs, with alternate, simple leaves, 

 and sheathing stipules. Flowers commonly white or rose-color, variously 

 disposed. 



1. AMBLYOGONON. Flowers in closely-bracted spikfs: stamens 7: style 2- 

 cleft : achenium lenticular : cotyledons incumbent : albumen meal i/. 



1. P. orientale, L. Hairy; stem tall, branching ; leaves ovate, acumi- 

 nate, petioled ; sheaths loose, salver-form ; spikes panicled, cylindrical, dense, 

 nodding ; bracts ovate ; flowers large, bright rose-color. Around dwellings, 



