584 POLYGONACE^B polygonum 



racemes: calyx green, a line long 5-parted to near the base, the segments 

 oblong, obtuse, with whitish or cream-colored margins : stamens about 5, 

 included. Washington to California and Colorado. 



P. Watsoni Small Monog. Polyg. 138. P. imbricatum Nutt. not Raf. 

 Glabrous throughout, stem slender and wiry, usually simple, 1-6 inches 

 high : 2-4 of the lower leaves filiform, 6-12 lines long, the upper or floral 

 bracts lanceolate to oblong 2-4 lines long, acute or shortly acuminate, ses- 

 sile, green with very narrow scarious margins: ocreae silvery, 2-partedbut 

 early lacerate, 1-2 lines long: flowers white or pinkish, mostly solitary, 

 in the axils of the upper leaves, the lower one remote, the others crowded 

 and racemose: calyx aboat a line long, 5-parted to below the middle, the 

 outer segments longest, ovate, obtusish : stamens 5 or fewer. In wet places, 

 Washington to California and the Rocky Mountains. 



P. polygaloides Meisn. in DC. Prodr. xiv, 101. Glabrous and light 

 green, 4-8 inches high mostly somewhat corymbosely branched, slightly 

 flexuous : leaves linear, 3-18 lines long, acute, sessile: ocreae funnelform, 2 

 lines long or more, 2-parted, soon lacerate : flowers in small clusters in 

 the axils of oblong scarious-margined more or less imbricated bracts at the 

 ends of the branchlets: calyx a line long, 5-parted to near the base, white 

 or pinkish, the segments with a dark midrib, the outer ones longer 

 than the inner: stamens 8, included: style evident, 3-parted to the middle. 

 In moist places on open plaius, Brit. Columbia to California and the 

 Rocky Mountains. 



Subgenus v Duravia Watson Am. Nat. vii, 665. Slender 

 wiry little annuals. Leaves linear, not jointed upon the scari- 

 ous lacerate ocreae. Flowers in slender many jointed interrupted 

 spikes, mostly solitary and nearly sessile in the sheaths. Sepals 

 5, colored, becoming somewhat appressedto the achene. Stamens 

 8, the 3 inner filaments but slightly dilated at base. Achenes 

 membranaceous, linear, nearly terete, obscurely 3-angled. Cotyle- 

 dons accumbent. 



P. Californicum Meisn. in DC. Prodr. xiv, 100. Glabrous : stem 

 very slender and wiry, erect, diffusely and loosely branched to nearly sim- 

 ple: leaves narrowly linear, to filiform 6-18 lines long, subulate-tipped, 3 

 ribbed, the upper reduced to subulate bracts : flowers solitary in the axils 

 of the bracts forming slender terminal spikes : calyx a line or less long, 5- 

 cleft to the middle at length exceeding the ocreae. On dry plains Southern 

 Oregon to California. 



P. dree nei Watson Proc Am. Acad, xix, 294. Glabrous : stem slen- 

 der, erect, 4-7 inches high, generally branched throughout, compact: 

 leaves linear to linear danceolate, 2-6 lines long, almost bract-like, reduc- 

 ed bracts above more or less imbricated and often of much the same size 

 throughout, 3~ribbed, the margins revolute: ocreae 3-4 lines long conspic- 

 uously lacerate, the segments subulate, numerous, rigid : flowers solitary in 

 the axils of bracts and thus apparently in terminal leafy-bracted racemes : 

 calyx sessile, a line long, rose-color, 5-cleft. not exceeding the ocreae : 

 stamens 8, included: style a line long 3-parted. Eastern Washington to 

 California. 



P. Parryi Greene Bull. Torr. Bot. Club viii 99. Glabrous: stem 

 erect, 1-4 inches high, simple to densely much branched, very leafy and 

 bearing flowers to the base : leaves linear, 3-12 lines long, of much the 

 same size throughout, subulate-tipped, 3-nerved: ocreae a little more than 

 a line long, extremely lacerate, usually hiding the calyx and giving the 

 whole plant a woolly appearance : flowers solitary in the axils of all the 



