The first family (_Polygoneæ_) is represented by the various species of _Polygonum_ (knotgrass, smart-weed, etc.), and among cultivated plants by the buckwheat (_Fagopyrum_). The goose-foot or pig-weed (_Chenopodium_) among native plants, and the beet and spinach of the gardens are examples of the family _Chenopodiaceæ_. Nearly resembling the last is the amaranth family (_Amarantaceæ_), of which the showy amaranths and coxcombs of the gardens, and the coarse, green amaranth or pig-weed are representatives. The poke-weed (_Phytolacca_) (Fig. 98, _K_), so conspicuous in autumn on account of its dark-purple clusters of berries and crimson stalks, is our only representative of the family _Phytolaccaceæ_. The two highest families are the purslane family (_Portulacaceæ_) and pink family (_Caryophylleæ_). These are mostly plants with showy flowers in which the petals are large and conspicuous, though some of the pink family, _e.g._ some chick-weeds, have no petals. Of the purslane family the portulacas of the gardens, and the common purslane or "pusley," and the spring-beauty (_Claytonia_) (Fig. 98, _A_) are the commonest examples. The pink family is represented by many common and often showy plants. The carnation, Japanese pinks, and sweet-william, all belonging to the genus _Dianthus_, of which there are also two or three native species, are among the showiest of the family. The genera _Lychnis_ and _Silene_ (Fig. 98, _L_) also contain very showy species. Of the less conspicuous genera, the chick-weeds (_Cerastium_ and _Stellaria_) are the most familiar. The third group of the _Choripetalæ_ (the _Aphanocyclæ_) is a very large one and includes many common plants distributed among five orders. The lower ones have all the parts of the flower entirely separate, and often indefinite in number; the higher have the gynœcium composed of two or more carpels united to form a compound pistil. The first order (_Polycarpæ_) includes ten families, of which the buttercup family (_Ranunculaceæ_) is the most familiar. The plants of this family show much variation in the details of the flowers, which are usually showy, but the general plan is much the same. In some of them, like the anemones (Fig. 99, _A_), clematis, and others, the corolla is absent, but the sepals are large and brightly colored so as to appear like petals. In the columbine (_Aquilegia_) (Fig. 99, _F_) the petals are tubular, forming nectaries, and in the larkspur (Fig. 99, _T_) one of the sepals is similarly changed. Representing the custard-apple family (_Anonaceæ_) is the curious papaw (_Asimina_), common in many parts of the United States (Fig. 100, _A_). The family is mainly a tropical one, but this species extends as far north as southern Michigan.