Himalaya MM. polyandra occurs on the open downs above 
the tree-limit at elevations of 10,000-13,000 feet; as 
late as 1872 it was believed that I. bifida, which has been 
gathered at elevations of under 8,000 feet, was confined 
to a lower zone. This is now known not to be the case ; 
M. bifida was collected by Dr. Giles, in 1885, at 12,000 
feet above sea-level in Kashmir. The roots of M. poly- 
andra, which is known to the mountaineers of Kamaon 
as the Rugi, are pounded and eaten as a condiment; in 
Kashmir the leaves are used as a vegetable. 
Description.—Herb, perennial ; root 4-5 in. thick at the crown, giving off 
several stout stems which, when in flower, are 6-8 ft. high. Leaves pinnati- 
sect; basal 23 ft. long, segments about 8-9 on each side, lanceolate, 
acuminate, serrate-dentate or denticulate, sparingly softly pubescent or nearly 
glabrous beneath ; cauline similar but smaller, with fewer segments or the 
uppermost entire and linear-lanceolate. Inflorescence very large, panicled, the 
rachis, branches and pedicels more or less finely hairy ; pedicels up to 2 in. long. 
Sepals wide-elliptic, quite obtuse, } in. long, membranous, white. Petals 
obovate, as large as the sepals, crenulate, yellowish-white. Glands at the base 
of the filaments as many as the stamens, green. Stamens 8-15, filaments 
rather stout, almost as long as the petals; anthers small. Ovary compressed 
laterally, almost orbicular in outline; stigma capitate, nearly sessile. Siliqua 
when young orbicular, emarginate, soon distinctly but usually unequally 
2-lobed ; lobes winged, when ripe tawny, often with one small dull-green lobe 
and with the other orbicular, 1 in. across, including the } in. wide wing. Seed 
solitary, elliptic in outline, flattened, 2 in. long; radicle accumbent. 
Tas. 8734.—Fig. 1, flower-bud ; 2, flower; 8, stamens and pistil ; 4, anther ; 
5, sketches of entire plant, from a photograph :—all enlarged except 5, which is 
much reduced, 
