356 



POLYGONACEAE (BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 



mm. long, the tips but slightly exceeding the conspicuous 

 whitish ovoid or lance-ellipsoid large grains; achenes 2-3 

 mm. long. (R. salicifolius Man. ed. 6, in part, not Wein- 

 mann.) Salt marshes, beaches and rocks, coast of N. S., 

 N. B., and N. E. FIG. 696. 



8. R. mexicanus Meisn. Upright; leaves linear-lance- 

 olate to narrowly oblong, pale green or glaucous ; panicle 

 very dense, its branches strict or strongly ascending ; pedi- 

 cels shorter than or sometimes exceeding the olive- to 

 ruddy-brown deltoid-ovoid calyx; valves 3.5-6 

 mm. long, the tips much exceeding the narrowly 

 ellipsoid to subulate brown grains ; achenes 

 1.7-2.3 mm. long. (E. salicifolius Man. ed. 6, 

 in part, not Weinmann.) Rich (often brack- 

 ish) soil, Lab. and Nfd. to Assina. and B. C., 

 locally s. to centr. Me., Mich., and Mo. ; and 

 abundant along the Rocky Mts. to centr. Mex. 

 FIG. 697. 



9. R. altissimus Wood. (PALED.) Rather 

 tall (1-2 m. high); leaves ovate- or oblong-lanceolate, acute, 

 pale, thickish, obscurely veiny (the cau- 

 line, 7-15 cm. long, contracted at base 

 into a short petiole); racemes spike-like 

 and panicled, nearly leafless ; whorls 

 crowded ; pedicels nodding, shorter than 

 the fruiting calyx; valves broadly ovate 

 or obscurely heart-shaped, obtuse or acut- 

 ish, entire, loosely reticulated, one with a conspicuous grain, 

 the others with a thickened midrib or naked. Alluvial 

 soil, Ct. to Neb., and southw. (Mex.) FIG. 

 698. 



10. R. verticillatus L. (SWAMP D.) Rather 

 tall (1-1.6 m. high); leaves lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, rather obtuse, thickish, pale green, 

 the lowest often heart-shaped at base ; racemes 

 nearly leafless, elongated, loose, the whorls 

 crowded or the lower ones distant ; fruit-bear- 

 ing pedicels slender, club-shaped, abruptly re- 

 flexed, 3-4 times longer than the fruiting 

 calyx; valves dilated-rhomboid, obtusely some- 

 what pointed, strongly rugose-reticulated, each 

 bearing a very large grain. Wet swamps, 

 w. Que. and Vt. to w. Ont., and southw. FIG. 

 699. 



11. R. CONGLOMERA.TUS Murr. Smoothish ; 

 leaves oblong ; panicle leafy ; pedicels short ; 

 valves obtuse, subentire, all grain-bearing, the 



callosities relatively large and conspicu- 

 ous. Va. (Curtiss according to Tre- 

 lease) to S. C. ; also Cal. (Adv. from 

 Eu.) 



696. E. pallidus. 

 Leaf x 1/3. 

 Fruiting calyces X 1^ 



3. R. altissimus. 

 Leaf x i/ 3 . 

 Fruiting calyces x 



12. R. OBTUSIF6LIUS L. (BITTER D.) 



700. R. obtusifolius. 

 Base of leaf x %. 

 Two whorls of infloresence x 1. 

 Fruiting calyx x 2%. 



Fruiting ca- 



Stem roughish ; lowest leaves ovate-heart- y e 

 shaped, obtuse, rather downy on the veins beneath, 

 somewhat wavy-margined, the upper oblong-lanceo- 

 late, acute; whorls loose and distant; valves ovate- 

 halberd-shaped, with some sharp awl-shaped teeth 

 at base, strongly reticulated. Fields, roadside 

 ditches, etc., very common. (Nat. from Eu.) FIG 

 700. 



