■J9 POLYGONACE.E. Polygonum. 



slender exserted pedicels, often tinged with rose-color : stamens 5 to 8 : akene 

 smooth and sliining, exceeding the sepals. — Lot. Kuig Exp. 3 Id. P. Torreyi, 

 Watson, Am. Natnralist, vii. 604. 



In the mountains of Northern Calitbniia and Oregon, and eastward in tlic Wahsatch and 

 Uintas {Watson) ; in the Sierra Nevada IVo.n the Yoseniite ^'alley northward {lorroj, Lcmuion) ; 

 on Mount St. Helena and Scott Mountains, Orciiie. 



•t- •»- Branches shmder and v'mjate, am/led, ternilnatlng in more or less open 

 spikes, the narrow leaves duniniahiny upward and becoming/ hract-like. 



7. P. ramosissimum, Michx. Erect or ascending, nsually 2 to 4 feet high, 

 often bnuu'hiiig only above, glahrons, the whole plant yelhtwish : wheatlis jtu.sc aii.l 

 scarions, beconung lacerate to the base : leaves lanceulate to linear, 1 to 2i inches 

 long, acnte, attenuate to a slender base : lh)wers an.l fnut ns m P. erediim, 1 or 2 

 lines long, erect, the sepals more freq\iently G, stamens 3 to G, and akene usually 

 smooth a'iid shining. — I^Ieisner, DC. Prodr. xiv. 97. 



In the lower Siena Nevada, ranging northward to the Colunihia and across the continent, more 

 common east of the mountains. 



8. P. tenue, Michx. Erect and slender, h to U feet high, glabrous and some- 

 what glaucous, 'sumetimes slightly scabrous at the nodes : sheaths with a close some- 

 what herbaceous base, sparingly scarious and lacerate above : leaves linear to lan- 

 ceolate, an inch or two long, acute at each end and often cusi)idatc, obscurely 

 3-nerved, usually nuich reduced above : lluwers often solitary and usually distant, 

 soon retlexed, 1 to 1 .^ or 2 lines long, the sepals margined with white or rose-color : 

 stamens 8 : styles a third as long as the ovary : akene ovate, black and shining. — 

 Meisner, 1. c. lOO ; Watson, 1. c. 



In the Cuyamaea Mountains {Palmer) and Sierra County {Lcmimn) ; very common eastward, 

 from British Colunihia to i\rizona, and across the continent. A hroader leaved torm occurs, often 

 low (var. lalifoliam, Engelni.), and also a low slender variety with muuite flowers and fnut (var. 

 ■)nkrosj)cnnuin, Engihii. ). 



9. P. coarctatum. Dougl. Resembling the last in habit, but scabrous-pubeni- 

 lent and the stilus ol'tcn brown : sheaths with a short mostly scarious base and a 

 more conspicuous lacerate summit: leaves linear, 1 -nerved, acute: llowers more 

 crowded ami usually erect, the perianth more colored, rose-color or white : styles as 

 long as the ovary. — :Meisner, 1. c. 101 ; Watson, 1. c. BGf). 



Near Borax Lake {Torrey) and Donner Lake {Lcnimou), and northward to the British 

 boundary. 



* * * Annuals, low and slender : flowers in short dense spikes, with imbricated 

 bracts: sepals colored, appressed: leaves linear. 



10. P. imbricatum, Nutt. Stems 1 to 8 inches high, smooth or slightly sca- 

 brous at the nodes, somewhat angled, often ditlusely branched : sheaths rather large, 

 2-parted or lacerate above the short scarious base : leaves a half to an incli oug, 

 acute, l-nerved : bracts loosely imbricate.l, linear or oblong, acute, 2 to 4 lines long, 

 with sometimes a narrow scarious margin : Howers nearly sessile, a line long or less, 

 rose-colored or white : stamens 3 or 5 : styles a third as long as the ovary : akene 

 three fourths of a line long, minutely tuberculate-striate or smoothish. — W atson, 

 1. c. 665. 



Frequent in the mountains, alpine an.l sub-alpine, from Donner Lake {Torren) to the Columbia 

 l^iver, and eastward to Colorado. It has usually been referred to P. coarctatum. 



11. P. polygaloides, ISfeisner, 1. c. Spikes closer, the closely imbricated bracts 

 oblong to nearly orbicular, with broad scarious margins, mostly obtuse : stamens 8 : 

 styles as long as the ovary. — Watson, 1. c. 



Oregon and Central Idaho, collected by Spalding, Pickcrimj, and IIowcll, probably to be found 

 in Northern California. 



