POLYGONACE7E. (BUCKWHEAT FAMILY.) 417 



{Dr. Mmd), cither almost glabrous or strigosc-hirsutc ; leaves short-petiolcd, 

 varying f'roiu eloiigatcd-luiiceolatc to lance-ovate and taper-pointed ; spikes 

 cylindrical (1' -3' long) often in pairs. — Common. (Eu.) 



§ 3. TOVARIA, Adans. Qtli/x rather herbaceous {rjrei iiish), unegnalli/ 4-parted: 

 stamens 5 : sti/les 2, distinct, rii/id and jiersisteiU on the smooth lenticular ache- 

 niinn: cotyledons ohlony, accnnibent: perennial: Jlowers looseli] disposed in naked 

 lo)ifj and slender s/iikes. 



12. P. Virgini^aum, L. Almost smooth ; stem terete, upright (2° -4° 

 high) ; leaves ovate, or the upper ovate-lanceolate, taper-pointed, rounded at the 

 base, short-petioled, rough-eiliate (3' -6' long); sheaths cylindrical, truncate, 

 hairy and fringed ; flowers 1 - 3 from each bract, somewhat curved, the styles 

 in fruit obliquely bent down, minutely hooked at the tip. — Thickets in rich 

 soil : common. 



§ 4. PSEUDO-POLYGONELLA. Characters of the next section, except that the 

 sheaths are truncate, naked and rigid ; t.lie flowers rucemed, soli tury from each trun- 

 cate bract ; pedicels jointed below the middle ; caltjx expandimj and pctaloid. 



13. P. articulatum, L. (Jointweed.) Annual; stem upright, panic- 

 ulately branched (4' -12' high), slender; leaves linear-thread-form, deciduous; 

 flowers rose-color, crowded in slender and spike-like panicled racemes, on re- 

 curved pedicels twice the length of the crowded joint-like bracts ; stamens 8 ; 

 aehenium triangular, smooth and shining. (Polygonella articuhita, Meisner, 

 but has not the enlarged connivent inner sepals, nor the axilc embryo of thav 

 genus.) — Dry, sandy soil ; along the coast and the Great Lakes, and in inter- 

 mediate places in New York. — Singular for its many-jointed spikes or racemes, 

 which are l'-3' long; the lower bracts tooth-pointed on one side. Three inner 

 filaments dilated at the base. 



§4. AVICULARIA, Mcisn. Cuh/x more or less petal-like, 5-parted: stamens 

 3 - 8 ; the fllameids awl-shaped, 3 of them broader at the base : stifjmas 3, glo- 

 bose, ncarli/ sessile: aehenium 3-sided: coli/ledons incumbent: albumen horny: 

 flowers inconspicuous, greenish-white, 2 or 3 together or sonutimes solitary in the 

 axils of the small haves, appearing nearly sessile, sometimes more or less spiked 

 along the leafless summits of the branches : ours all annuals or nearly so : sheaths 

 sc'jrious, usually 2-3-cl(ft or cut-fringed and torn. 



14. P. aviculkre, L. (Knotgrass. Goosi;-gr.vss. Dook-wekd.) 

 Prostrate or spreading ; leaves sessile, lanceolate or oblong, pale ; stamens chiefly 

 5 in the American, 8 in the European plant; aehenium dull, minutely granular 

 under a lens, enclosed in the calyx. — The commonest weed, in yards, waste 

 places, &c. (Eu.) 



Var. erectum, Eoth. Stems upriglit or ascending; leaves broader (ob- 

 long' or oval) and larger. (P. erectum, L.) — In richer soil or more shaded 

 places : common. 



15. P. maritimum, L. (Coast Knotgkass.) Prostrate, ^/'/kcok.s, with 

 a hard and sometimes woody and jjcrcnnial root; stems very short-jointed; 

 searious sheaths large; leaves /A/t-fo/i'f/, cllii)tical-lancco!ate or narrow oblong ; 

 flowers larger than in the last ; aehenium very smooth and shining. (P. glaucum, 



27 



