Tas. 6244. 
BONGARDIA Ravwotrnu. 
Native of Western Asia. 
Nat. Ord. BerserIpE#.—Tribe BERBEREA. 
Genus Bonearnia, C. A. Meyer (Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. i. p. 48). 
Boncarpra tauwolfii ; acaulis glaberrima, glaucescens, rhizomate tuberoso, foliis 
longe petiolatis omnibus radicalibus patentibus impari-pinnatisectis, foliolis 
oppositis 3—-4-nisve 8-8-jugis obovatis v. obcuneatis 3-rarius 5-lobis, lobis 
. acutis v. obtusis, scapis crasiusculis paniculatim ramosis multifloris, bracteis 
oblongis obtusis, floribus aureis, sepalis 3 exterioribus brevibus orbiculatis 
viridibus, petalis interioribus obovato-obcuneatis crenato-dentatis. 
B. Rauwolfii, C.A. Meyer, Verz. Pf. Caue. p.174; Walp. Rep. vol. i. p. 100; 
Ledeb. Fl. Ross. vol.i. p. 80; Floral Cabinet, vol. iii. t. 98; Henslow in Botanist, 
vol. i. t.50; Hook. f. et Thoms. Fl. Ind. vol. i. -p. 230. 
B. Olivieri, C. A. Meyer, 1. ¢. 
B. Chrysogonum, Spach, Hist. Plant. Phan. vol. viii. p. 65; Griseb. FI. Rumel. 
vol. i. p. 294; Jaub. et Spach, Ill. Pl. Orient. t. 396; Bois. Fl. Orient. vol. 
i. p. 99. : 
Curysoconum Dioscoridis, Rauwolf, Itin. p. 119, cum Ie. 
Leontice Chrysogonum, Linn. Hort. Cliff. p. 122; Willd. Sp. Pl. vol. iii. t. 148; 
DC. Prod. vol. i. p. 109; Ait. Hort. Kew, ed. 2, vol. ii., p. 272. 
This singular plant, a herbaceous Barberry it may be called, 
has on several occasions been introduced into cultivation in 
England, but never been’ kept long. Aiton, in the ‘ Hortus 
Kewensis,’ mentions it as having been introduced from the 
Levant before 1740, long before which, in 1573, it was de- 
scribed by Rauwolf as the true Chrysogonum of Dioscorides, in 
a chapter of his travels devoted to ‘‘ A short and plain 
“narration of plants which I gathered during my stay at 
‘‘Halepo, in and around about it, not without great trouble 
(Bay.) danger, which I glued upon paper very carefully.” 
ay. : 
Bongardia Rauwolfii has a very wide range in geographical 
distribution, from the islands of the Greek Archipelago (Chios 
and Rhodes), through Asia Minor, Syria, and Persia, to 
Affghanistan and Beluchistan. In Syria and Persia it is said 
to be found in cornfields and to be used as an acid pot-herb. 
: A 
