P0LYG0NACE.5B (BUCKWHEAT FAMILY.) 695 



toms, connate. Styles subulate, approximated in a crown but free 

 stigQiatose along their inner face. Fruit a flattened berry, composed of 

 indehiscenfc cells, with a fleshy pericarp. Seeds short - beaked, 

 crustaceous. Albumen central, embryo annular, peripheral. 



1. P. decaiicira, L. If Pokeweed. Pigeon-berry. Garget. 

 Khiitut-el-Abdzah, iLumvali. Salghali. 1 or more, glabrous; stem usually 

 purplish. Leaves ovate to oblong-lanceolate, cuneate at base, short- 

 petioled. Flowers yerfect ; racemes or peduncles longer than petioles. 

 .1 to .15 long; stamens 10; berry 10-ribbed and 10-carpelled— Spring 

 and summer— Ditches and roadsides to subalpine and alj^ine regions. 



2. P. priiiiio§a, Fenzl. If 1 or more, pridnose, glaucescent. 

 Leaves fleshy, elliptical to elliptical-lanceolate, cuneate at base, nearly 

 sessile. Flowers dioecious; racemes short-pecluncled, .1 to .15 long; 

 stamens 11-16; carpels and grooves 5-9 — July and August — Middle 

 and subalpine zone of Amanus, and northward. 



Order LXXXV. POLYGOWACEiE , Juss. (Buckwheat Family). 



Herbs or shrubs loith alternate leaves^ and sheath-like 

 stipules (ochrem) above the swollen joints of the stem. 

 Floioers perfect, or polygamous-monoecious, ar dicecious, with 

 a more or less persistant calyx, and a l-celled ovary contain 

 ing 1, erect ovule, and bearing 2-3 styles or stigmas — Feri- 

 gonium inferior, 3-6-cleft, imbricated in bud. Stamens 4- 

 16, inserted at base of calyx. Fruit indehiscent, nut-like, 

 naked, or enclosed in inner divisions of calyx. Leaves general- 

 ly entire. 



* Akenes 2A-angled-winged. Embryo in axisi 



1. CALLIGONUM. 5 Desert plants j leaves minute; flowers minute, axillary. 



2. PvHEUM. 2X Coarse herbs ; leaves orbicular, .2 to .8 broad ; flowers in a large panicle. 



3. OXYRIA. If Tender alpine herbs; leaves cordate-orbicular to reniforni, .01 to .015 broad ; 



flowers in a spike-like raceme. 



* * jingles ofakenes mngless. Embryo lateral or peripheral. 

 4 EMEX. Fruitingperigoniumtriquetrous-urceolate.G-toothed, outer 3 teeth spinescent. 

 6. RUMEX. If Valves of fruiting perigonium 3, larger than outer 3, bract-like leaves, 

 connivent. 



6. ATRAPHAXIS. ^ Fruiting perigonium 4-5-parted, the inner 2-3 leaves larger. 



7. POLYGONUM. If ^ Fruiting perigonium 4-5-fid or -parted, leaves nearly equal. 



1. CALL.IGOXUM, L. Calligonxjm. 



Flowers perfect. Perigonium rotate, petaloid, not growing, lobes 

 5, plano-concave, spreading. Stamens 10-16, connate at base. Ovary 

 4-angled and -grooved ; styles 4, free, short, stigmas capitate. Akene 

 4-winged, or else echinate especially at angles with 8-10 rows of 

 branching, intertwined hairs, or covered with intertwined hairs ex- 

 panded into a membrane enclosing the akene. Pericarp somewhat 

 woody, seed 4-grooved. Embryo straight in axis of fleshy albumen — 

 Much branched shrubs, the year old branches jointed, easily separated. 



