POLYGONACEiE. (BUCKWnEAT FAMILY.) 699 



warts unequal in size — Spring — Common everywhere below sub- 

 alpine regions. 



8. R. €as§iu§, Boiss. .5 to 1; root-stock thick, short; stems 

 erect, nearly simple. Leaves small, the radicle petioled, ovatc-obloug, 

 subcordate or rounded at base, obtuse, the upper oblong-lanceolate, 

 acute. Raceme long, leafy below, naked above ; whorls distant; 

 pedicels thickened, shorter than fruit, jointed near base; valves retic- 

 ulate, coriaceous, triangular-deltoid, acute, with 3-5, subulate, hooked 

 spines on each side, entire at tip, all unequally warty — Summer — 

 Mount Cassius. 



9. R. cleiitatus, L. .3 to .6; stem erect, simple or branching 

 from base. Lower leaves petioled, rounded or subcordate at base, ob- 

 long, sometimes fiddle-shaped, obtuse, somewhat wavy. Whorls 

 distinct, or more or less confluent, subtended by a linear-lanceolate, 

 short, petioled leaf, with cuneate base ; pedicels shorter than fruit ; 

 valves ollong 'lanceolate, .004 long, reticulate, all with a usually large 

 wart, and with 1-3, siibulate, straight teeth on either side, as long as the 

 loidth of the ovule — Spring — Wet places in Jordan Valley. 



10. R, buceplialopliorus, L. .1 to .3; stem simple or 

 branching from neck, erect or ascending, ending in long, simple, slen- 

 der racemes. Leaves petioled, the lower ovate-spathulate to oblong- 

 lanceolate, the upper linear. Whorls somewhat approximated, 2-3- 

 flowered; pedicels jointed at base, at length club-shaiwd, reflexed, longer 

 than perigordum ; valves with a minute wart at deltoid base, oblong- 

 lanceolate, with 2-4, spiny, straight or hooked teeth on either side 

 toward base, entire toward apex — March to June — Fields; coast and 

 lower mountains ; common. 



11. R. sciitatus, L. 11 .4 to .5, glabrous or papillose, glauces- 

 cent; root-stock creeping ; stems numerous, ascending, flexuous, forked, 

 ending in long, loose racemes. Leaves fleshy, the lower long-petioled, 

 cordate-ovate, obtuse, the intermediate and upper hastate-Jiddle- shaped 

 or tiHlohed, with a deep, excavated sinus, the middle lobe rhoinbic-ovate, 

 broader than long^ the lateral narrow, acute. Whorls 2-4-flowered, re- 

 mote ; pedicels filiform, jointed toward middle ; valves membranous, 

 cordate-orbicular, .007 long, not warty, and scarcely reticulated — 

 Summer — On shingle ; Marash, and northward. 



12. R. tuberosiis, L. 2f .3 to .5, green, glabrous; root-fibres 

 spindle-shaped; stem sparingly leafy, n aked-panicled above. Root- 

 leaves long-petioled, ovate to oUong, blade .04 to .05 long, rounded or 

 cordate or cordate-hastate at base, with short, diverging, acute or obtuse 

 auricles ; upper sessile, hastate, lanceolate to linear, pedicels jointed 

 about middle ; valves ovate-orbicular, .006 long, reticulate, cordate or 

 truncate at base, longer and broader than akene, with or sometimes 

 without a deflexed scale at base, — May to July — Hauran; Aleppo; 

 Aint^b, and northward. 



13. R. lacerus, Balb. Bamsis. Fistuq-el-hishreh. .1 to .4, 

 glabrous, branching from neck ; branches decumbent and ascending, 

 forked. Leaves fleshy, petioled, ovate-oblong in outline, .02 to .04 long, 

 pinjiatijid or -parted on either side into 1-4, ovate- triangular to oblong- 

 linear, lateral lobes, the terminal oblong -triangular, crenate-ldbed or 

 dentate, obtuse or acute, the uppermost leaves lanceolate-linear, repand 



