POLYGONACE^. (UDCKWHKAT FAMILY.) 317 



usually 1 or 2 inches high : leaves lii)ear-ublauce<jlate, hirsute : bracUi un- 

 equal : iuvolucres iu the forks ou slender pedicels, the rest more uearlv »c». 

 sile: flowers light rose-color. — From W'yomiu;,' to Nevada. 



3. OXYRIA, Hill. Mountain Souhkl. 



Flowers perfect. The two inner sepals erect, apprcssed, and uncliaiiKcd iu 

 fruit. Stamens 6. — Perennial alpine and arctic lier!)s, erect, with long- 

 petioled round-reuiform mostly radical leaves, and small «jlili(|uely Iruucato 

 sheaths : flowers small and greenish, iu narrowly panicled racemes. 



1. O. digyna, Campdera. Rather stout and fleshy, .3 to is inches liisli, 

 glabrous: flowers in scarious-bracted fascicles, on short capillary |)odicelH: 

 sepals often reddish, the outer narrower and carinate. — At hi-h aliitudeu in 

 cold wet places among rocks throughout the northern hemi.sphere. 



4. RUMEX, L. Dock. Sorrel. 



Flowers perfect, polygamous, or dicecious. Inner sepals somewhat colored 

 and becoming reticulated (valres) in fruit. Stamens 6. — Coar.»je perennial 

 herbs : stems leafy, with ol)liquely truncate cylindrical naked sheaths : flowers 

 small, fascicled or verticillate in paniculate racemes. 



§ 1. Flowers perfect or polygamous : valves enlarged , oflen bearing a grain-like 

 callosity on the bach : leaves never hastate, pinnately many-veined, rarely very 

 acid. — Docks. 



* Valves wholly without grains, mostly very large (3 lines long or more), entire or 

 denticulate: pedicels long, jointed near the base: glabrous. 



1. R. venosus, Pursh. Stems erect, afoot high or less, from running 

 rootstocks, stout and leafy, with conspicuous dilated stii)ules: leaves on short 

 but rather slender petioles, ovate or oblong to lanceolate, 3 to 6 inrlus long, 

 only the lowest acute or somewhat cordate at base: panicle nearly sessile, .short, 

 dense in fruit: valves entire, cordate-orbicular with a deep sinus, d to 12 lims in 

 diameter, bright rose-color. — From Colorado and Nevada to British Columbia 

 and the Saskatchewan. 



2. R. OCCidentalis, Watson. Tall and rather slender, often 3 to & fret 

 high : leaves oblong-lanceolate, the lowest sometimes ovate, usually narrowing 

 gradually upward from the truncate someivhat cordate liase, wot decurrent on the 

 slender often elongated petiole, often a foot long or more: panicle narrow, elon- 

 gated, nearly leafless: valves broadly cordate, with a very shallow sinus, 3 linex 

 in diameter, of en denticulate near the base. — Proc. Amer. .\cad. xii. 253. 

 R. longifolius of authors, not of DC From New Mexico and Colorado to 

 Labrador and Alaska. 



* * Vtilvcs smaller, one or more of them grain-bearing. 



3. R. salicifolius, Weinman. Slender, often low, 1 to 5 feet hifih, usu- 

 ally branching and decumbent at base, glabrous: leaves narrowly or linoAr- 

 lanceolate, or°t he lowest oblong, 3 to 6 inches long, aUenuaU into a .short peti- 

 ole, not undulate, glaucous : panicle usually open, the flowers crowded upon the 

 branches : valves ocatc-rhomboidal to broadly deltoid, entire or lUnticulaU, usually 

 with very large callosities. — Across the continent and northwani to Alaska. 



