POLYGONACEJE. (BUCKWHEAT FAMILY.) 387 



white, yellowish, or rose-color ; exterior sepals recurved ; valves orbicular, equal, 

 longer than the ovate achenium. Dry sandy soil, near the coast, Florida to 

 North Carolina. Aug. and Sept. Stem l-2 high. Leaves '-!' long. 

 Racemes '-!' long. 



2. P. gracilis, Mcisner. Annual; stem tall and slender, paniculately 

 branched above ; leaves remote, wedge-oblong, obtuse, often wanting ; sheaths 

 truncate, pointless : racemes slender, scattered, forming a large and spreading 

 panicle on the sterile plant, more crowded on the fertile ; bracts truncate ; flow- 

 ers white or pale rose-color, the fertile ones greenish ; sepals all erect ; valves 

 oval or elliptical, unequal (the interior longer), shorter than the ovate-lanceolate 

 acuminate achenium. (Polygonum gracile, Nutl.) Dry sand ridges in the 

 pine barrens, Florida to South Carolina. Sept. and Oct. Stem 2 - 5 high. 

 Leaves 1' long. Racemes linear, l'-3' long. 



3. P. brachystachya, Meisner. Shrubby ; branches slender ; leaves 

 linear, tapering from the obtuse apex to the base ; sheaths obliquely truncate, 

 somewhat pointed ; panicle compound, leafy ; racemes short, oblong, nearly ses- 

 sile ; bracts truncate ; exterior sepals keeled, reflexed ; valves oval, strongly 

 1-nerved, longer than the rhomboidal achenium, nearly equal. South Florida. 

 Branches straight, 1 - 1^ long. Leaves 3" -5" long. Racemes ' long. 



4. P. Croomii, n. sp. Stem shrubby at the base ; branches slender ; leaves 

 very small, narrowly linear, obtuse, crowded or imbricated on the sterile shoots ; 

 sheaths obliquely truncate, subulate-awned ; racemes slender, scattered in an 

 open oblong panicle ; bracts of the filiform rachis obliquely truncate, pointed ; 

 flowers minute, white ; exterior sepals recurved ; valves unequal, the 2 exterior 

 roundish, the interior oblong, longer than the rhombic-ovate achenium. In 

 Carolina or Georgia, probably in the middle districts, Croom. Stem apparently 

 l-l high. Leaves 2" -3" long. Racemes 3" -5" or the sterile ones at 

 length 9" long. 



5. P. ciliata, Meisner. Stem herbaceous, nearly simple ; leaves subulate, 

 very acute, sheaths fringed at the throat with a few long bristles ; panicle simple, 

 short, leafy at the base ; spikes nearly sessile, filiform ; bracts minute, pointed ; 

 pedicels very short ; sepals oblong, obtuse, spreading longer than the achenium. 

 South Florida, near the Manatee River, Rugd. Stem 2 high, slender. 

 Leaves I'-l^' long. 



2. GONOPYRUM. Filaments unlike, the 3 interior dilated at the base : styles 

 manifest: flowers perfect: embryo at one side of the albumen. 



6. P. Meisneriana, Shuttl. Stem shrubby, much branched ; leaves mi- 

 nute, filiform, obtuse ; sheaths truncate, pointless ; racemes long, forming small 

 panicles at the end of the branches ; bracts loose, oblique, with the points spread- 

 ing ; exterior sepals recurved ; valves equal, roundish, often emarginate, longer 

 than the ovate acuminate achenium ; three interior filaments inversely sagittate 

 below the middle. Alabama, Rugel, and near Macon, Georgia. Stem 1 -2 

 high, with filiform branchlets. Leaves numerous, 2" -3" long. Fruiting spikes 

 rigid, 1 ' - 2' long. Valves largest of all. 



