t 

 Polygon urn. POLYGON ACE^E. 15 



19. P. viviparum, Linn. A similar species, biit mostly dwarf and more ex- 

 clusively alpine : flowers smaller, nearly sessile in linear spikes 1 to 3 inches long, 

 at least the lower ones replaced by sessile bulblets a line long. Meisner, 1. c. 124. 



As widely distributed as the last ; in the Clover Mountains, Nevada (Watson), frequent on the 

 peaks of Utah and Colorado, and doubtless to be found in the Sierra Nevada, though it seems not 

 to have been collected south of the Cascade Mountains in Washington Territory, Lyall. 



5. Herbaceous branching perennials ivith running rootstocks : floivers in terminal 

 and axillary racemose panicles or cymelets ; perianth colored, Smarted, 

 attenuate at base, at length loosely appressed to the triangular akene : 

 stamens 8 ; filaments filiform : styles 3, short: leaves pinnately veined; 

 petioles not jointed : sheaths naked, entire or bifid ; bracts small. 

 ACONOGONON, Meisner. 



20. P. polymorphum, Ledeb. Stout, erect, 2 to 7 feet high, glabrous or nearly 

 so : leaves ovate- to oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, cuneate or sometimes rounded at 

 base, decurrent the whole length of the short petiole, 3 to 7 inches long, usually 

 scabrous on the margin : panicles loose, many-flowered, nearly naked, longer than 

 the leaves : flowers greenish white, a line or two long, exceeding the pedicels : 

 akene equalling or longer than the scarcely appressed sepals. Meisner, 1. c. 139 ; 

 Watson, Bot. King Exp. 317. 



In the Sierra Nevada, in moist places, from the Yosemite Valley northward to Alaska; East 

 Humboldt Mountains, Nevada ( IVaison), a wholly smooth form with narrower leaves. The species 

 varies greatly, and several varieties occur in Europe and Northern Asia. 



21. P. Davisiae, Brewer. Erect or somewhat decumbent, a foot high or more, 

 stout and leafy throughout, much branched, often flexuous, pubescent with short 

 spreading hairs or somewhat glabrous : leaves scabrous-ciliate, ovate to oblong, 1 or 

 2 inches long, acute or obtuse, cuneate or rounded at base and mostly sessile : 

 flowers few, yellowish or purplish green, in small axillary and terminal cymose 

 clusters or panicles much shorter than the leaves : perianth 1 to 2 lines long, with 

 a very narrow base : pedicels very short : akene exserted. Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 

 viii. 399. 



In the Sierra Nevada, on dry slopes, from Alpine County (Brewer) to Oregon ; first collected 

 by Miss N. J. Davis. 



6. Herbaceous annuals or perennials, with fibrous roots, mostly twining or climb- 

 ing, and with cordate or sagittate leaves: flowers in loose panicles or 

 racemes or in terminal or axillary clusters ; perianth green with colored 

 margins, 5- (rarely 4-) parted, enlarging or keeled in fruit : stamens mostly 

 8 : styles or stigmas 3. TIN i ARIA, Meisner. 



P. DUMETORUM, Linn., var. SCANDKNS, Gray. A smooth perennial, twining high over bushes, 

 with cordate or slightly halbert-shaped acute leaves, and flowers in slender axillary sparingly 

 leafy racemes : perianth becoming 4 or 5 lines long in fruit, long-attenuate to the slender reflexed 

 pedicel, the outer sepals strongly winged upon the keel : akene acutely triangular, 2 lines long. 

 - From the Atlantic States to the Upper Missouri and Washington Territory (Lyall), may reach 

 Northern California. 



P. CONVOLVULUS, Linn. A low annual, twining or procumbent, minutely scabrous ; leaves 

 halbert-cordate, acuminate : flowers few, in axillary fascicles or small interrupted racemes, on 

 very short pedicels: perianth in fruit 1| or 2 lines long, equalling the akene, the outer sepals 

 sharply keeled. An introduced weed from Europe, to be expected in California. 



4. NEMACAITLIS, Nutt. 



Flowers perfect, each with a free herbaceous bractlet. Perianth 6-cleft, colored, 

 enclosing the akene. Stamens 3. Styles 3 : stigmas capitate. Akene short-ovoid, 

 obscurely 3-angled. Radicle lateral, accumbent upon and longer than the strongly 



