78 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOTANY OF [Caryophyllacee. 
of the northern hemisphere, we have them, like the Ranunculacee and Crucifere, 
abundant in the Himalayas, and comparatively absent from the plains of India. A few 
species occur on the Neelgherries, where elevation, as in other tropical parts of the world, 
compensates for lowness of latitude, and allows the existence of plants of the temperate 
zone. In the plains of India, it is only during the cold weather months that any of 
the genera analogous to those of Europe, are found; as Stellaria media, Spergula 
indica, closely allied to, if not the same, as Sp. pentandra, Saponaria vaccaria, and Silene 
conoidea ; the two latter being European species, and occurring in corn-fields, it is 
_ probable that they have spread southwards with the wheat and barley which are so 
extensively cultivated in the north of India. Mollugo, the most tropical genus of the 
family, has several species in the lower provinces and peninsula of India ; and Drymaria 
extensa, hardly to be distinguished from D. cordata, found in Surinam, Jamaica, and 
New Spain, belonging to a genus, of which the rest of the species are American, is found 
in the south of India, and all along the foot of the Himalaya. | | 
: The species which occur on the slopes and summits of these mountains, belong to the 
genera Gypsophila, Dianthus, Cucubalus, Silene, Lychnis, Spergula, Stellaria, Cerastium, 
Arenaria, and the new genera Leucostemma, Alsinella, Odontostemma, and Brachystemma. 
The Silenee are twenty-two in number, and of them, Dianthus barbatus, Cucubalus 
bacciferus, and Lychnis coronaria, of which specimens were | brought me from Cash- 
mere, and the seeds produced plants in the Saharunpore Botanic Garden, cannot 
be distinguished from European specimens; while Dianthus caucaseus, Silene inflata, 
viscosa, and viscaginoides, with Arenaria serpyllifolia, plants of Caucasus, Siberia, and 
Dahuria, are all found in the Himalayas. I am indebted to Mr. Bentham for the 
following account of the Himalayan species of this tribe. The Caryophyllea, of the 
tribe Alsinee, are about forty in number, many having the closest resemblance to 
European species; while there is great similarity between the species found in Kuna- 
wur, and those of Siberia and North America. These have been sent to M: Fenzl, of 
Vienna, who has been kind enough to undertake to incorporate them in the monograph, 
which he is about to publish, of that tribe. ; 
Though many of this family are well known as handsome garden flowers, few are 
employed in medicine, as they are remarkable only for their insipidity. The flowers of 
Dianthus caryophyllus are employed for making a sirup and a conserve, on account of 
their colour and fragrance. It is remarkable, that the name kurunphool (Kapupuaaor) 
is applied in India to Dianthus chinensis, cultivated in gardens. Saponaria vaccaria is 
also used in native medicine, and from its saponaceous and slightly bitter properties, 
may be useful in some cases. ‘a? 
ENUMERATION 
