286 AMAEANTACB^. {Altcmanthera. 



1. A. sessilis, Br.; Moq. in BO. Prod. xiii. part ii. 357 ; Wight, Ic. 

 t.T21. A prostrate branching glabrous or slightly pubescent annual, extend- 

 ing sometimes to 3 ft. or more. Leaves narrow, oblong-lanceolate, or rarely 

 nearly obovate, about 1 in. long, tapering at the base. Flowers white, scari- 

 ous and shining, in axillary clusters, surrounded by a few short wooUy hairs. 

 Perianth-segments about 1 line long, rather acutey but not pungent, longer 

 than the otherwise similar bracts. Stamens very short, 3 only, without inter- 

 vening teeth or appendages.^— IfeZaB^fe-a polygowidea, Seem. Bot. Her. 407, 

 not of Moq. 



On roadsides and in waste places, Hance ; also Wright. Common in trupical and sub- 

 tropical Asia, Africa, and America. In Hance',s specimen the internodes are shorter than 

 usual, and the flower-clusters more abmidant and conspicaous. It is not, however, the A. 

 polygoiwides, which has much longer sepals, the outer ones pungent, and 5 fertile stamens. 



Oeder LXXXVIII. POLYGONACE-ffi. 



Perianth of 6, 5 or fewer segments, regular and equal, or the inner ones 

 enlarged. Stamens variable in number, usually 9, 8, or 6. Ovary free, with 

 a single erect ovule. Styles or stigmas 3, 3, or rarely more. Pruit a small 

 seed-like nut, usually with as many angles as styles, enclosed in or scarcely pro- 

 truding from the persistent perianth, Embryo straight or curved, in a mealy 

 albumen. — Herbs or rarely shrubs. Leaves alternate. Stipules usually thin 

 and scarious, rarely herbaceous, forming a sheath or ring round the stem within 

 the petiole. Plowers small, herbaceous or sometimes coloured, clustered in 

 the axils of the leaves, or in spikes or racemes forming terminal panicles. 



A considerable Order, dispersed over every part of the globe. 



Fruiting perianth of 6 segments, the 3 inner ones enlarged 1. Rumex. 



Fruiting perianth of 5 nearly equal segments 2 Polygonum. 



1. EUMEX, Linn. 

 Perianth-segments 6, the 3 inner ones enlarged after iiowering, and closing 

 over the triangular nut. Stamens 6. Styles 3, very short, with fi-inged stig- 

 mas. Herbs or rarely shrubs. Flowers numerous, small, herbaceous, but 

 often turning red, usually pedicellate, in whorl-like clusters, axUlai-y, or in 

 terminal simple or paniculate racemes. 



A considerable genus, widely distributed over most parts of the globe, but more especially 

 in temperate regions. 



1. R. crispus, lAnn.; Meisn. in DC. Frod.ydv. 4}4!. A perennial, with a 

 thick root-stock, and erect furrowed stems 2 to 3 ft. high ; the branches few 

 and short. Kadical leaves naiTow, usually 6 to 8 in. long, much waved and 

 crisped at the edges, the upper ones smaller, passing gTaduaJly into bracts. 

 Stipules sheathing, ragged at the edges. Whorls of flowers numerous, and 

 when in fruit much crowded in a long narrow panicle. Inner segments of 

 the fruiting perianth broadly ovate, 3 to 3 lines long, with a coloured grain 

 or tubercle on the midrib. 



Roadsides at Say wan, Champion; also ffance. Common in Europe and temperate Asia, 

 and now naturahzed m inany other parts of the globe. The Chinese specimens, like all those 

 grovfu m warm or dry chmates, have tubetcles on all the inner perianth-segments. More 

 northern specimens have them frequently on one segment only of each perianth. 



