Polygonum.] ^ coxix. ronycowacEx. (J.D. Hooker.) 49 
Sect. X. Aconocon, Meissn. Shrubs, rarely perennial-rooted herbs. 
Leaves usually broad; stipules tubular, eciliate. Flowers in branched 
panicles, pedicelled ; bracts not tubular, very open. Perianth 5-partite. 
tamens 8, rarely fewer, with or without interposed glands. Styles 2-3, 
short, free or connate below, stigmas capitate. Nut trigonous, not tightly 
enclosed in the perianth; cotyledons accumbent. 
* Tall herbaceous or shrub-like species. Flowers very small 4-3 in. diam. ; 
Perianth cleft nearly to the cuneate base, segments spreading. 
96. P. alpinum, Al. Fl: Pedem. i. 206, t. 68, f. 1; stem glabrous, or 
young parts softly pubescent, pale reddish or white, leaves shortly petioled 
lanceolate or linear-lanceolate acuminate glabrous or puberulous, flowers in _ 
terminal thyrsoid dense-fd. pyramidal panicles, perianth 3-3 in. diam. 
cleft nearly to the cuneate base, inner segments obovate-spathulate, nut 
broadly rhomboid-ovoid acutely 3-gonous pale rather longer than the 
enlarged perianth. Meissn. Monog. Polyg. 56, t. 3 G ; Boiss. Fl. Orient. iv. 
1031. P. sibiricum, Linn. fil. Suppl. 228 (not of Pallas). P. acidum, Pall. 
Reise ii. 25, iii. 316 (fid. Ledeb.). P. divaricatum, Vill. Dauph. iii. 322 (not 
fo tm). 'P. polymorphum & alpinum, Meissn. in DC. Prodr. xiv. 1. 
Norru-Western Hrwataya; from Kulu to Kashmir, alt. 7-12 900 ft., Thomson, 
&e.—Disreip, Turkestan westward to S. Spain, Siberia, N. America. . 
Root perennial. Stems 6 ft., annual, grooved, paler than in any of the following 
Species. Leaves 3-5 in., glabrous or finely pubescent beneath especially, margins 
agg base acute; stipules long, lax, deciduous above the base. Inflorescence a foot 
ong and more, of myriads of white or pale pink flowers; pedicels much longer than 
the short obtuse bracts, jointed close below the perianth or lower down. , Nut 3 in. 
ong, shining —This agrees well with the European und N. Asiatic plant. Boissier 
: and Meissner give Affghanistan as a habitat, but Griffith’s specimens have much 
rger sepals which conceal the much smaller nut, 'and the inflorescence 1s more 
corymbose; I refer them to P. polystachyum,—Eaten raw and cooked ; tastes like 
rhubarb (Aitchison). ee , | 
i 57. P. paniculatum, Blume Bijd. 533; shrubby, quite glabrous, 
ranches terete, leaves petioled elliptic-ovate or -lanceolate acuminate or 
caudate-acuminate base acute or rounded, flowers in terminal large lax-fld. 
thyrsoid „panicles, perianth jj, in. diam., segments oblong, nut very small 
included in the simple or baccate perianth. Merssn. Monog. Pol yg. 95, and 
m DC, Prodr. xiv. ]. 137; Miquel Fl. Ind. Bat. i. 1012. 
p XEMPERATE HrwALAYa, Herb. Griffith; Garwhal alt. 5-6000 ft, Duthie; 
* Nepal and Sikkim, ait. 7-8000 ft., J. D. H.—DISTRIB. Java. -> 
A shrub, 4-6 ft., with flexuous branches that are not grooved. Leaves 5-7 M 
iil an, firm, often black when dry. Margins ciliolate ; nerves 15-30 pairs ; petiole 
" 11. ; stipules with a long limb deciduous above the base. Panicle effuse, qui e 
Eabrous; pedicels usually short, but here and there long; bracts minute, sc 
owers white, Nut ty in. long, turgidly ovoid, 3-gongus, black. —The Is E 
pecimens are perfectly glabrous, Javan have minute pubescence on the midrid an 
nerves beneath, Duthie’s Garwhal plant has more membranous fewer-nerved (10-14 
fon?) leaves, and pedicels sometimes 3 in. long; but the number of nerves varies 
remarkably in individual specimens of all the species of this section, 
58. P. rude, Meissn. in DO. Prodr. xiv. 1. 137; shrubby, branches 
stout terete strigose with depressed hairs, leaves petioled elliptic-lanceolate 
acuminate softly pubescent beneath or on the nerves only, flowers in 
ge id hi i ianth 4j in. diam., segments 
$E e nal thyrsoid hirsute panicles, perianth rj n, s 
Mo. Rat Cardan 
