252 



CLASSIFICATION 



succulent herb with minute flowers sunlc in the 

 cavities of the joints of the fleshy stem. The flowers 

 of Chenopodium are markedly pro togy nous. 



The flowers of this 

 Order possess either 

 a small, insignificant, 

 greenish perianth or 

 none. Insect visits 

 are therefore rare, and 

 the flowers are usu- 



a.lly ANEMOPHILOUS 

 or AUTOGAMOUS. 



Nat. Order 4. Poly- 

 gonacecB. — Flerbs, 

 sometimes climbing, 

 rarely trees. Leaves al- 

 ternate. Stipules OCH- 

 REACEOUS. Flowers 

 usually hermaphro- 

 dite, regular, small. 

 Perianth simple, inferior, sometimes petaloid, seg- 

 ments 3 to 6, persistent. Stamens 5 to 8, opposite 

 the perianth segments. Carpels connate, in a superior 

 i-celled usually triangular ovary; style 

 3 or 2. Fruit, a small, hard, most often 

 triangular nut, enclosed in the persistent 

 perianth. Seeds erect, with copious 

 albumen. The Order is chiefly tropical. 

 Common plants: pani-marich {Polygonum 

 orientale, P. tomentosum, P. Imiigerum, 

 P. glabrum, and P. barbatum) (fig. 230), 

 common weeds in ditches and damp places; ban- 

 palang {Rumex maritmius), a marsh weed with 

 the persistent perianth segments having a white,, 

 tubercled mid-rib (fig. 231) and automaticaUy self- 



Fig". 230. — Pani-marich {Polygonum harhattvni) 

 u, Ochrea. 



