Polygonum: Sectio Tovara

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Abstract
A brief sketch of the history of the genus is given several species of which were known to the earliest writers on botany Dioscorides, Brunfels, Lobelius, Fabius Columna and others. The morphology and anatomy of the vegetative organs is described with reference to Polygonum virginianum. The anatomy is compared with the structure of several other species of the genus representing the sections: Persicaria, Avicularia and Cephalophilon. Tovara is considered a very characteristic section marked by peculiar floral and fruiting structure. Of the species examined, P. virginianum is the only one in which the leaf is bifacial. The ventral epidermis is papillose, and glandular hairs are totally absent, while abundant in the heliophilous species. Stellate hairs were found on the leaves of P. arifolium, not recorded so far from any member of the Polygonaceae. Stereo-matic collenchyma was observed in Avicularia. Mention is made of P. aequale Lindm., which is frequent in the vicinity of Washington, D. C., and was formerly known as P. aviculare L., which Lindman has divided into P. aequale and P. heterophyllum, labeled P. aviculare in the herbaria of Cliffort and Linnaeus.

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