CXA'III. SALICACE.i:. 063 



1. Populus euphratica, Oliv. Voy. Atlas, v. 3, p. 449, tt. 45, 46. 



A middle-sized usuallj^ gregarious tree 40-50 ft. high ; buds slightly 

 pubescent, not A^iscid. Leaves most variable in shape, those of seedlings, 

 young trees, and young shoots linear or oblong, entire and shortly 

 petiolate, 3-6 in. long, those of older trees usually broadly ovate, 

 rhomboid or orbicular, 2-3 in. long and often as broad or broader than 

 long, dentate or more or less cut or lobed, with a rounded cordate or 

 cuneate 3-5-nerved base, the narrower leaves sometimes entire. 

 Mowers pedicellate in both sexes ; catkins glabrous. Male floweks on 

 long slender pedicels reaching i in. long. Disk membranous, sub- 

 orbicular, with 6-8 (usually 8) irregular acute teeth. Stamens 8-12 ; 

 filaments filiform ; anthers oblong, quadrangular, longer than the 

 filaments. Pemale flowers : Disk membranous, caducous, tubular, 

 with 8-12 linear segments. Stigmas 2-3, more or less irregularly 

 crescent-shaped, narrowed into a short style. Capsules |— i in. long, 

 ovoid-lanceolate, turgid, 2-3- (commonly 3-) valved ; pedicels shorter 

 than the capsules. Seeds narrowly ellipsoid, acute at both ends, ^^g in. 

 long, enveloped in a mass of silky hairs. El. B. I. v. 5, p. 638 ; Talb. 

 Trees, Bomb. ed. 2, p. 336 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1899) 

 p. 517 ; A\^att, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 6, part 1, p. 326.— Flowers : Feb., 

 nearly leafless in January. Vern. Ban. 



In the Bombay Presidency confined to Sind. Sind : Ritchie, 690 !, Stocks, 424 !, 

 Dalzell\, Woodrow. — Distrib. India (Panjab); W. Thibet, Beluc.iistau, Afghanistan, 

 westwards to Syria and Egypt. 



The wood is largely nsed for fuel in Sind. 



Obder CXIX. CERATOPHYLLACE^. 



Submerged slender fragile branched heibs. Leaves whorled, dicho- 

 tomously cleft into filiform minutely toothed lobes; stipules 0. Flowers 

 minute, monoecious, axillary, sessile. Male flowers solitary. Perianth 

 (or involucre) of 6-12 narrow subvalvate 2-fid segments. Stamens 

 20-30 ; filaments very short; ; anthers erect, extrorse, dehiscing longi- 

 tudinally ; connective truncate or 2-toothed at the apex. Female 

 flowers : Perianth of the male. Ovary sessile, ovoid, 1-celled ; ovule 

 solitary, pendulous, orthotropous ; style subulate, stigmatic on one side. 

 Fruit a small coriaceous ovoid or elhpsoid somewhat compressed nutlet, 

 terminating in a long subulate style with a spur projecting from the 

 base on either side. Seed pendulous ; testa membranous ; albumen ; 

 embyro straight; cotyledons thick; radicle short, inferior; plumule 

 many-leaved. — Distrib. Genus 1 ; species 1, very variable, in all tempe- 

 rate and tropical countries. 



1. CERATOPHYLLUM, Linn. 



Characters of the Order. 



1. Ceratophyllum demersum, Linn. 8p. PI. (1753) p. 992. 

 Whole plant 8-36 in. long, forming a much-branched tangle of slender 

 branches and leaves which collapse in a tassel when taken out of the 

 water. Leaves about 1 in. long ; segments spreading in water, variable 

 in thickness and amount of toothing. Male floavers solitary, in 

 separate axils from the female but on the same plant. Perianth (or 

 involucre) of 6-12 narrow 2-fid segments. Stamens 10-30, sessile; 



