S80 POLYGONACE^ polygonom 



lines long-, 5-parted to the middle: stamens 8 or fewer, included: style 

 2-parted to about the middle : achenes lenticular, flat, broader than high. 

 Idaho to the Eastern States. 



P. Peesicaeia L. Sp. 361. Annual : stem erect or sometimes spread- 

 ing, 8-20 inches high, simple or branched: leaves lanceolate to linear- 

 lanceolate, 1-8 inches long, acuminate at both ends, entire or sometimes 

 erose, conspicuously punctate, nearly smooth except the more or less his- 

 pid midrib and nerves, short-petioled or nearly sessile, generally with a 

 dark triangular or lunate spot in the middle : ocreae cylndric or funnelform, 

 6-9 lines long, conspicuously fringed with Short bristles: racemes 1-5, in 

 terminal panicles, oblong or ovoid, 6-18 lines long, mostly erect, densely- 

 flowered : calyx pink to purple or greenish, 5-cleft to the middle, the seg- 

 ments obtuse: stamens generally included: style 2- or 3-parted. included: 

 achenes broadly ovoid, pointed. In waste places throughout Nprth and 

 South America : naturalized from Europe. 



P. bydropiperoides Michx. Fl. i, 236. Perennial, often tinged with 

 red throughout : stems erect, or the base decumbent and creeping; 1-3 feet 

 high, simple or branched above, enlarged at the joints : leaves lanceolate to 

 linear-lanceolate, 2-6 inches long, glabrous or strigillose, acute at both 

 ends, oiliate, short-petioled : ocreae cylindric or funnelform, 6-12 lines long, 

 loose, fringed with long bristles : racemes almost linear, 1-3 inches long, 

 erect, more or less , interrupted : calyx about a line long, flesh-color, or 

 gresenish, 5-parted to below the middle, the segments oblong or obovate : 

 stamens 8, included style short) 3-parted, at length exserted: achenes tri- 

 quetrous^ pjoid or...l?roadJy oblong. Jn ponds and wet places, Washington 

 to California and the Atlantic States. . , 



P. Hydr<^iper L. Sp. 361. Annual: glabrous: stems erect or assur- 

 gent, 8-24 inches high, simple, or branched throughout :' leaVes ovate to 

 lanceolate, 1-5 inches long, acute or acuminate at both ends, ciliate, un- 

 dulate or slightly crisped, short-petioled : ocreae cylindric, 3-6 lines long, 

 becoming somewhat funnelform and oblique fringed with long bristles, 

 often bearing 1 or 2 flowers within, racemes numerous, axillary and ter- 

 minal, 1-3 inches long rather loosely flowered and much interrupted, usual- 

 ly drooping : calyx greenish to red or white, 3-5 parted, the segments 

 rather narrowly oblong : stamens. 4, sometimes 6, included: style 2-3-oleft 

 to near the base: achene lenticular or triquetrous, broadly oblong to 

 orbicular. In^ damp places, , throughout temperate North America and 

 Europe. 



Subgenus iv, Aviculakia Meisn. Monog. Polygj 85. Annual 

 or perennial plants with the leaves all cauline, the petioles artic- 

 ulated at the junction of the fjcreae ; the upper ones reduced to 

 foliacepus bracts. Ocreae membranaceous and usually hyaline, 

 funnelform, ablique, 2-parted, at length lacerate. Inflorescence 

 consisting of axillary clusters either widely separated or crowded 

 into a terminal raceme. Calyx 5-parted. Stamens mostly 8. 

 Style 3-parted or wanting. Achenes triquetrous. Cotyledons in- 

 cumbent. 



* Suffruticose smooth perennials with brown stems and loose scaly 

 bark. 



P. paronychia Cham. & Scblecht. Linn, iii, 51. Bright green and 

 glabrous throughout : stems prostrate or ascending, 6-18 inches long, dif- 

 fusely branched : leaves oblong to oblong-lanceolate, apparently linear or 

 linear-lanceoliite on accoufit of the strongly revolute margins, 3-5 lines 

 long, scattered along the branches and crowded in subspicate clusters at 



