64 Lxxi. coMrosiT.i:, 



pedicelled, subsolitary or fascicled (sometimes 6-10 in a clust'er), sup- 

 ported by leaves or naked. Invol.-bracts all with broad white mem- 

 brauous margins ; the outer very sliort, ovate, acute, with a strong 

 midrib, subcordate ; the innermost thrice as long as the outer, reaching 

 ■|- in. long, linear, subacute, longer than the pappus, the midrib thickened 

 in front. Pappus-hairs subequal, soft, white, copious. Achenes -,\j~8 

 in. long, polymorphous ; inner sometimes as if composed of 4 thick 

 ribs ; outer slightly curved and flattened, with a thick ventral and 

 several thick dorsal ribs, all smooth or obscurely uneven. Microrhynchus 

 nudicaulis, Less. Syn. p. 139 ; Aitch. Pb. & Siud PI. p. 83. M. fallax, 

 Jaub. & Spach, 111. PI. Orient, v. 3, p. 106, t. 276. Lactuca ohtusa, 

 C. B. Clarke, Comp. Ind. p. 261 (exclud. many syn.), not of Benth. — 

 Flowers : Nov. Vern. Pdthari. 



S. M. Country : Belgaum, liitchie, 365 ! Kanaka : YeUur, Bitchie, 1802 ! Sind : 

 BUckie, 1801!; Jemadar ka Lancia near Karachi, Stocks, 688! — Distrib. More or 

 less throughout tlie plains of India ; Afghanistan and westwards to the Atlantic. 



3. Launsea pinnatifida, Cass, in Ann. Sc. Nat. se'r. 1, v. 23 (1831) 



p. 85. Glabrous, flagelliform, procumbent ; stems 1-3 ft. long, rooting 

 and leaf-bearing at the nodes and arching between them. Leaves radical 

 and springing from the nodes ; the radical 1-3 in. long, oblong, runcinate- 

 piunatifid or sinuate-toothed or lobed, the teeth rarely white and carti- 

 laginous. Heads f-^ in. long, solitary or in clusters of 1-2, arising 

 from the nodes together with the cauline leaves ; peduncles short and 

 with several small bracts. Invol.-bracts with white membranous 

 margins ; the outer small, oblong, subobtuse ; the inner i in. long, 

 linear, subacute. Pappus 5 in. long, deciduous, the hairs subequal, soft, 

 white. Achenes pale, i in. long, obtusely 4-gonous. PI. B. I. v. 3, 

 p. 416; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 3, p. 52; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 11 

 (1898) p. 651 ; Watt, Diet. Eeon. Prod. v. 4, p. 595. Microrhynclms sar- 

 mentosm,J)C. Prodr.v. 7, p. 181 ; Wight, 111. t. 133 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 132 ; 

 C. B. Clarke, Comp. Ind. p. 277. Prenanthes sarmentosa, Willd. Sp. 

 PI. V. 3, p. 1540; Grab. Cat. p. 94.— Flowers: Dec. Vern. Pdthan. 



KoNKAN : Bombay, Graham; Revadanda, Kanitkar]; Shrivardhan (sea-siiure), 

 Woodrowl Gdjarat : Verawal (Kathiawar), Woodrow. Sind: Cooke I 



Tlie plant is often given in Bombay to buffaloes to promote the secretion uf milk, 

 and the juice is given as a soporific to children. See Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. 1. c. — 

 Distrib. India on sandy sea-shores; Ceylon, Mauritius, Egypt, E. Africa. 



4. Launaea glomerata, IlooJc.f. Fl B. I. v. 3 (1881) p. 417. A 

 glaucescent glabrous plant, with a perennial root; stems cylindric, 

 usually numerous, 2-7 in. long, diffuse or ascending or suberect or 

 decumbent, almost leafless. Kadical leaves 3-5 by 1-I.t in., sessile, 

 sinuately-lobed, pinnatifid or runcinate, the lobes usually rounded and 

 with white cartilaginous teeth. Flowering branches spreading, sparingly 

 dichotomonsly branched. Heads subsessile, |— | in. long, broader than 

 in the three preceding species, campanulate, clustered at the ends of 

 the branches ; flowers yellow. Invol.-bracts with broad membranous 

 margins ; outer ovate, small ; the innermost ~ in. long, oblong-lanceo- 

 late, acute, scarcely exceeding the pappus. Pappus | in. long, deciduous ; 

 the hairs subequal, soft, white. Achenes ^- in. long, corky, oblong, 

 truncate at both ends, white or pale-yellow, conspicuously winged. 



