POLYGONUM POLYGONACE Zt | 581 
the branches, sessile, pitted on the upper surface, acute or acuminate at 
base, with a broad 2-winged midrib ocreae 6-10 lines long, silvery, early 
lacerate into hair-like segments: flowers crowded into subspicate clusters 
near the ends of the branches: calyx white to pink, about 3 lines long, 5- 
parted to below the middle, the segments obovate or oblong: stamens 8, 
included: style a line or more long, 3 cleft at the apex. On sandy banks 
along the coast, Vancouver Island to California. 
P. Shastensis Brewer Gray Proc. Am. Acad. viii., 400. Glabrous 
throughout: stems prostrate or ascending, 4-12 inches long, much branch- 
ed: oblong to oblanceolate, 3-6 lines long, longer than the internodes, ses- 
sile, acute at base: ocreae 2-3 lines long, 2-parted, the segments very thin 
and silvery: flowers 2 or 3 together in the axils of the leaves: calx 2 lines 
long, rose-color or red, 5-parted to near the base, the segments obovate, 
each with a dark rib: stamens 8, included; filaments strongly dilated at 
base: style 3-parted, apparently formed by the splitting of the apex of the 
narrowly oblong achene. Mount Mazama Oregon to the high peaks of the 
Sierra Nevada Mountains. 
_  * * Annuals, rarely perennials, with striate stems, leafy through- 
out: calyx colored upon the margins, becoming closely appressed to 
the achene: style short. 
P. littorale Link in Shrad. Journ. i, 54. Annual or perennial, glab- 
rous, bright green and glaucous: stems prostrate, 1-4 feet long, diffusely 
branched: leaves oblong to oblanceolate, 3-12 lines long, generally acumin- 
ate at base, conspicuously nerved, often crisped, short-petioled: ocreae 
oblique, 2-3 lines long, 2 parted and silvery when young, at length lacerate 
and brownish: flowers in clusters of 1-6 in the axils of the upper leaves: 
calyx mostly green, 5-parted te below the middle, the segments oblong: 
‘stamens 8, included: style a line long, 3-parted to the base, ineluded. 
Brit. Columbia to California and across the continent. 
P. avicorare L. Sp. 362. Glabrous throughout and dull or bluish- 
green: stems prostrate or ascending, 4-24 inches long, simple or branched: 
leaves oblong to oblanceolate, 5-12 lines long, acuminate at base, not con- 
spicuonsly nerved, subsessile or short-petioled : ocreae oblique, 2 lines long, 
silvery, becoming lacerate in age: flowers in clusters of 2-5 in the axils of 
the leaves: calyx mostly green, 5-parted to below the middle, the segments 
oblong: stamens 5-8, included: style very short, 3-parted. Common in 
yards and roadsides. 
P. erectum L. Sp. 363. Glabrous throughout: stem stout, erect or 
ascending and somewhat spreading, 8-24 inches high, nearly simple to 
much branched: leaves oval, oblong or obovate, 6-30 lines long; mostly 
acuminate at base, sessile to short-petioled : ocreae 3-12 lines long:-flowers 
in clusters of several in the axils of the middle leaves: calyx greenish, over 
a line long, 5-parted to below the middle, the segments oblong: stamens 6 
or 7, included: style less than a line long, 3-parted. In sandy fields, east- 
ern Oregon to Texas and Georgia. ' 
P. minimum Watson Bot. King 315. Somewhat scurfy but glabrous: 
stem erect or spreading, 1-3 inches long, slender, simple or branching from 
the base: leaves obovate to ovate or oblong, 3-8 lines long, acute or apicu- 
late at the apex, acuminate at base, subsessile, not much reduced above: 
ocreae about a line long, dentate-lacerate: flowers in clusters of several in 
axils of all the leaves: calyx greenish, about a line long. 5-parted to near 
the base, the segments oblong, the margins pale rose-color: stamens 5-8, 
included. On the high mountain tops, Washington and Oregon to Cali- 
fornia and Utah. 
* * Annuals with striate stems, the branches slender and virgate, 
angular: leaves diminishing upward and becoming bract-like; the 
