1270 Clli POLYGONACEjE. [Pobifionmu 
St.cT. V. Tiniarla. — Twining herbs. Leaves broad, hastate or cordate. Hovers in axillary 
clusters or slender racemes ; bracts not tubular. 
Annual, prostrate or twining, leaves sagittate-cordate. The 3 outer sepals 
obtusely keeled, pedicels jointed above the middle 14. P. * convolvulus . 
Muhlenbeckia Cunninghamii has almost the styles and stigmas of Polygonum, but the flowers 
are dioecious. — Benth. 
1. P. aviculare (bird-food), Linn. Meissn. in DC. Prod. xiv. 97; Bentli. 
FI. Amtr. v. 267. A glabrous annual, much branched at the base, sometimes 
erect or ascending when young, but the stems soon prostrate, wiry, extending 
to 1 or 2ft. or even more. Leaves shortly petiolate, elliptical oblong lanceolate 
or rarely linear, the larger ones above lin. long but mostly smaller. Stipules 
broad, more or less brown at the base, the remainder silvery and split into finely 
pointed lobes. Flowers axillary, solitary or in clusters of 2 to 5, very shortly, 
pedicellate. Fruiting perianth above 1 line long, the segments green in the 
centre, white on the margins. Styles 3. Nut triangular, black but opaque (not 
shining) owing to a minute granulation visible under a strong lens. 
Hab.: Common in southern localities, also in Europe and Asia. 
2. P. plebeium (low), U. Br. Prod. 420; Benth. PI. Amtr. v. 267. A 
much branched prostrate annual, much more compact than P. aviculare, and 
rarely above 1ft. long, glabrous or the branches slightly hoary. Leaves linear, 
narrow-oblong or slightly spathulate, rarely above Jin. long. Stipules as in 
P. aviculare short silvery and ragged at the edges. Flowers very small, in 
clusters of 2 to 5 in the axils of most of the leaves. Fruiting perianth under 1 
line long, the segments green, with a narrow white edge. Nuts triangular, very 
smooth and shining. — Meissn. in DC. Prod. xiv. 94 ; Benth. FI. Hongk. 287, 
with the synonyms there adduced. 
Hab: Broadsound, It. Brown ; Brisbane River, Moreton Bay, A. Cunningham, F. v. Mueller 
and others : Gilbert River, l-\ v. Mueller; Rockhampton, O'Slianesy; Wide Bay, Bidwill; 
Kennedy District, Daintrce. 
Exceedingly common all over tropical Asia, extending into Africa. Very near P. aviculare, 
but amidst all its variations it seems to me constantly to differ from that species iu its compact 
habit and small flowers, and in the nuts always smooth and shining. — Bentli. 
3. P. orientale (eastern), Linn. ; Meissn. in DC. Prod. xiv. 123; Benth. FI. 
Austr. v. 271. An erect softly pubescent or hirsute annual of 2 to oft. Leaves 
on rather long petioles, ovate or the upper ones lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 3 
to 6in. long. Stipules very hairy, closely sheathing and scarious at the base, but 
all except the uppermost expanded at the top into a green spreading limb. Spikes 
(especially in the hirsute form) rather slender, continuous or slightly interrupted, 
several in a loose terminal panicle. Bracts hairy and eiliate. Flowers rather 
large. Stamens usually 7. Style with 2 slender branches. Nut flat or the sides 
convex, the margin obtuse. Radicle curved towards the back of the cotyledons. — 
R. Br. Prod. 420. 
Hab.: Rockingham Bay, Dallachy ; Rockhampton, common on the edges of lagoons, etc. 
Dallaeliy, O'Slianesy, Bowman ; Archer’s Station, Leichhardt ; Moreton Bay, C. Stuart ; 
and many other localities, North and South. 
Most of the Australian specimens belong to the var. pilosum, Meissn. (P. pilosum, Roxb.), 
which extends over E. India to S. China. 
4. P. attenuatum (attenuated), P,. Br. Prod. 420 ; Benth. FI. Austr. v. 272. 
A tall species, very nearly allied to P. orientale, the stems and foliage more or less 
sprinkled with rather fine appressed hairs, hoary when young, or sometimes 
nearly glabrous. Leaves lanceolate, tapering into a very long point and con- 
tracted into a rather long petiole, mostly above 6in. long. Stipules entirely 
sheathing, truncate and shortly eiliate, without the green limb of P. orientale. 
Spikes continuous, 1J to 3in. long, few on rather long peduncles in a terminal 
