Hydrocotyle.] lxx. UMBELLiFERiE. 869 



and often 4 secondary ones between. Seeds i in each carpel. 

 Species about 1500, chiefly in northern temperate regions, very 

 few in the tropics. 



Creeping herbs , . . . . . . i. Hydrocotyle 



Erect herbs. 



Leaves spiny; flowers in a dense head . . .2. Eryngium 



Unarmed herbs ; flowers distinctly umbelled. 



Umbels irregularly compound, rays few . .3- Sanicula 



Umbels distinctly rayed . . . . •4- CEnanthe 



1. HYDROCOTYLE, Linn. 



Long-creeping herbs. Leaves cordate rounded or reniform 

 lobed or crenate, long petioled. Umbels simple small dense. 

 Flowers very small. Calyx-teeth minute or o. Petals entire. 

 Fruit ellipsoid, flat nearly or quite sessile in small heads. Species 

 70, tropics and temperate regions. 



Stem branches ascending a foot or more ; umbels 

 clustered on long pendulous peduncles ; leaves 



lobed (i) H. javanica 



No ascending branches ; umbel peduncles very short ; 

 leaves reniform crenulate. 

 Leaves '5 to 2 in. wide, crenate . . . . (2) H. asiatica 



Leaves -25 in. wide, lobed , . . . . (3) H. rotundifolia 



(i) H. javanica Thiinb. Dissert. Hydrocotyl. n. 17, t. 2 ; Clarke, 

 in Hook. fit. F.B.I, ii. 667; King, I.e. 70. 



Stem creeping and throwing up branches a foot tall. Leaves 

 rounded or reniform cordate with 5 or 6 lobes more or less crenulate, 

 2 in. wide and a little shorter; petioles i to 4 in. long, pubescent. 

 Peduncles numerous terminal, hairy, -5 in. long with numerous 

 bracts at the base, each bearing a compact umbel or head of many 

 small white flowers, occasionally branched. Fruit numerous 

 crowded, broadly obovoid, compressed, "i in. long. Hah. Damp 

 spots in woods usually high up on mountains. Pahang, Telom. 

 Perak, Thaiping Hills 200 to 500 ft. altitude (Kunstler) ; near the 

 Cottage, 4000 ft. altitude ; Temengoh. Distrih. India, Malay isles, 

 Australia. 



(2) H. asiatica Linn. Sp. PI. 234; Clarke, I.e. ii. 669; King, 

 I.e. 71. 



Slender creeping plant with no ascending stems. Leaves in 

 tufts of 2 or 3 at the nodes, reniform crenate, glabrous, "5 to 2 in. 

 wide; petioles i to 3 in. long. Flowers crowded in the leaf-axils 

 with numerous bracts. Umbels compact on very short 'i to '2 in. 

 long peduncles. Fruit •! in. long, strongly ribbed. Hab. Very 

 common in grass and waste places all over the peninsula. Distrih. 

 tropics and sub-tropics of Old World. Native name : Pegaga. 

 Use : A drug for liver-troubles and leprosy, much valued and 

 largely collected and sold by the herb-women in the markets. 



