40 CXIX. POLYGONACEE, (J.D. Hooker) [Polygonum. 
` glabrous or strigose. Leaves 2-6 in., glabrous altogether or with the exception of 
the costa and nerves beneath, or hispidly or strigosely hairy on the surfaces or below . 
only, brown when dry, more for less glandular. Stipules usually very strigose with 
stiff appressed hairs, cilia often as long as the tube. Racemes subpaniculate, some- 
times 6 in. long and extremely slender; bracts glabrous, more or less ciliate, glan- 
dular or not; perianth bright pink, very thickly glandular. Stamens 8. _ Nut small, 
black, minutely granular.—The taller, longer-leaved, hairy forms of this are very 
distinct from P. Hydropiper, but amongst a large suite of specimens of both, some 
occur that it is difficult to refer to one rather than tothe other. As pointed out under 
P. serrulatum, Roxburgh’s P. flaccidum is that plant. This obliges me to retain the 
name ( flaccidum) as Meissner's, though in so doing I am unable to take in his syno- 
nymy and his varieties, which are much confused.  Boissier gives Affghanistan 
Griffith as a locality for this species, but I have seen no specimens, and his description 
quite agrees with the Indian plant. I can hardly doubt this being Roth’s P. 
Rottleri, which he received from Heyne (under the name of P. barbatum, Rottler), 
but am puzzled by his description of “style quite simple and stigma capitate "—in 
allied species he always speaks of stigmas. I do not see how glabrous forms differ 
from the American P. acre, HBk., except, as Meissner observes (in Fl. Bras.), by the 
granulate (not smooth polished) nut. 
Var. hispida ; leaves elliptic ovate much smaller 1-13 in. long, hirsute beneath or 
on both surfaces, glands of perianth less strong. P. hispidum, Ham. in Don Prodr. 71, 
not of Meissn. or Bab. P. Posumbu, Meissn. in DC. l. c. 105, in part. P. Hamil- 
tonii, Spreng. Syst. Veg., Cur. post. 155 (not of Meissn.) P. Babingtoni, Endl. 
Gen. Pi. Suppl. iv. 47, excl. syn. Bab. P. mite, Wall. Cat. 1723, 1 a, in part.— 
Nepal, Hamilton; Kumaon, at Naini tal, alt. 6400 ft., Strach. & Winterb. (No. 17) ; 
Hawalbagh, T'homson.—A specimen in Wallich's Herbarium of Hamilton's P. Aispi- 
dum shows that this plant has been misunderstood first by Babington, who described 
for it a variety of P. barbatum, or P. Bishirc, followed by Meissner (in De Candolle), 
who did the same, adopting the name of Hamiltonii, which had been proposed for it 
by Sprengel (there being an earlier P. hispidum); and lastly by Endlicher, who 
included both Hamilton's and Babington's plants under the third name of P. Babing- 
toni. Beyond this I have been unable to unravel completely the synonymy of this 
obscure plant, which differs from P. flaccidum in its much shorter leaves and less 
glandular perianth. It resembles P. serrulatum var. Donii, which differs in the 
coarse strong cilia of the bracts, 
38. P. macranthum, Meissn. in DC. Prodr. xiv. 1. 207 ; tall, erect, 
stem glabrous or sparsely strigose, leaves 2-6 in. petioled elliptic-lanceolate 
acuminate glabrous or sparsely hispid beneath, stipules substrigose, cilia as 
long as the tube, racemes long narrow erect strict, bracts closely imbricate 
with one or two removed far below glabrous shortly ciliate eglandular, 
perianth very large, nut large polished. Polygonum, No. 21, Herb. Ind. 
Or. H. f. & T. 
ASSAM, Wallich, Griffith, &e. SiLBET, the JHEELS and KHASIA Mrs., ascending 
to 5000 ft, J. D. H. & T. T., Clarke. 
Habit and size of P. flaccidum, but at once distinguished by the strict rarely 
flexuous (never decurved) racemes 3-6 in. long, with closely imbricating bracts and 
the polished nut.—1 have seen but two flowering specimens, in which the perianth is 
nearly ł in. diam. ; and from the small size of the buds in numerous other specimens 
I suspect that the perianth may vary much in size, The nut is nearly ài in. long, 
jet-black, quite smooth, shining with obtuse angles. 
Sect. VIII.  CrrnaLoPHILON, Meissn.; erect or prostrate unarmed 
annuals, rarely perennial-rooted, or shrubs. Leaves usuall 
: : ) broad entire or 
runcinately lobed or auricled; stipules short, tubular. Flowers in single 
or corymbose heads (spikes in P. muricatum); bracts flat, hardly tubular. 
Perianth 4-5-lobed or -partite. Stamens 6-8, glands 0 or obscure. Styles 
2-3, filiform, conuate below or throughout, stigmas capitate. Wut tri- 
