490 ORDER CII. POLTGONACE^. 



d. Flowers in racemose panicles. Leaves subeordaie or sagittate. 



IS. P. sagitta'tum, (Mich.) Stem slender, climbing, angled, retror?ely 

 eerrate. Leaves nearly sessile, glabrous, sagittate. Flowers axillary 

 and terminal, in small compact heads, on long peduncles, Slajw^^ns 8. 

 Styles 3-cleft. Perianth white. — ©. July — Aug. Wet grounds. 



14. P. arifo'lium, (Mich.) Stem retrorsely aculeate, prostrate, flex- 

 uous, sometimes climbing, square, pubescent. Leaves hastate, on long 

 petioles, pubescent. Spikes few-flowered, terminal and axillary. Sta- 

 mens 6. Styles bifid. — 0. Aug. — Sept. Wet grounds. 



15. P. convol'vulus, (Mich.) Stem long, climbing, angular, some- 

 what rough. Leaves petioled, hastate-cordate, with spreading; lobes. 

 Flowers in axillary racemes. Stamens 8. Style 3-cleft. Perianth^ 

 whitish or reddish. — #. July — Aug. In fields. 



16. P. scan'dens, (Mich.) Stejii climbing, glabrous, bright purple, an- 

 gled. Leaves broad-cordate, with the margins and veins sliglitiy sca- 

 brous. Flowers in axillary racemes, large. Stainens 8. Styles 3. Pe- 

 rianth winged, white, or reddish. — 0. July — Aug. Shady woods. 



P. dumetosum. 



17. P. FAGOpy'EUM, (L.) {Yronx fagus, beech, and puros, wheat, from 

 the resemblance of the nut to the beech-nut. The English name is fi ora 

 the German huche, beech, compounded with wheat, making Buckwheat, 

 or Beechwheat.) An annual plant, with triangular-cordate leaves. 

 Flowers in paniculate racemes, or corymbose, white or greeni-h. 



Fagopyrum esculentum, Moench. 



Genus III.— RU'MEX. L. 6—3. 

 (From rumo, to suck ; the Eomans sucked the leaves to allay thirst) 



Perianth 6-leaved, in 2 rows. Stamens 6. Styles 3. Nut 

 triquetrous, inclosed by the three interior valves of the perianth. 

 Stigmas many-cleft. 



1. R. sanguin'eus, (L.) Stem erect. Radical leaves large, entire, cor- 

 date-lanceolate, variegated with red veins. Flowers in small, distant 

 whorls. Perianth persistent, marked on the back with red grai:iS. — 

 If. June — July. Infields. 3 feet. BUody Dock. 



2. R. pul'cher, (L.) Radical leaves oblong, with a sinus on each 

 side; cauline leaves entire. Pman^A toothed. — If. June — July. In- 

 troduced. 



3. R. verticilla'tus, (L.) Leaves long, lanceolate, narrow, acute, 

 with cylindrical sheaths. i^/o?^)(?rs whorled, in simple racemes. Leaves 

 of the perianth entire, each bearing a vein on the back. Pedicels thick, 

 half an inch long. — 2^. June — July. Wet grounds. 1 — 2 feet. 



Swamp Dock. 



4. R. Beitan'nicus, (L.) Steyn branching, tinged with red, furrowed. 

 Leaves broad-lanceolate, flat, alternate. Flowers in leafless whorls, form- 

 ing a compound terminal panicle, polygamous. — If. April — May. 

 Swamps. 2 — 3 feet. 



5. R. ORis'pus, (L.) Stem erect, angled. Radical leaves lanceolate^ 



