ull 
 Potyconum.] POLYGONACEE. 33 
sensible gradations. Cooke Fl. Bomb. ii, 514. P. micranthemum 
Franchet. — 
Var. 5. rvpica.—Branches uniformly spreading all round from the 
crown and leafy, internodes short. Leaves }-} in. long, linear or 
obovate-oblong, flat, obtuse or apiculate ; stipules very short. Flowers 
crowded in the axils, pedicels shorter than the perianth or none. 
Sepals broad, 2 outer acute. Nutlets 3, in.—Saugor (Jerdon). 
Distrrs.: Common in Central and 8. India, also in the Bombay 
Pres., extending to Africa and Australia. Watt E. D.; Cooke Fl. 
Bomb. ii, 513. P. indicum, Heyne. 
Var. 6. BREVIFOLIA.—Rootstock woody ; branches stout, often 1-2 ft. 
long, dark-brown, grooved ; internodes of branchlets very sheort, 
concealed by the leaves and stipules which latter show as a continuous 
white villous band on the underside of the branchlets. Leaves }-} in. 
long, obovate, acute or apiculate, flat, coriaceous, dark-brown when 
dry. Flowers sessile, almost concealed by the stipules. Sepals 
narrow, outer acute. Nutlets ~;-~_; in.—Abundant within the area. 
in dry places. Distris.: Bengal to Garhwal and W. India, also in 
Burma and extending to Africa. Prain Beng. Pl. 886; Cooke FI. 
Bomb. ii, 514. A short form with crowded leaves ; allied to indica, 
and differing from Griffithii by its stout habit and narrower longer 
leaves which are less covered by the stipules. 
Var. 7. GRIFFITHI.—Branches excessively numerous from the root,. 
very slender flexuous and quite naked below ; branchlets with the 
internodes so close that they look woolly from the crowded and fim- 
briate stipules. Leaves shorter than the almost nerveless stipules, 
orbicular cr broadly obovate, flat, apiculate. Flowers minute, sub- 
sessile, hidden amongst the stipules. Sepals rounded, the 2 outer 
apiculate.—N. W. India (Falc.) ; abundant in the Jumna and Chambal 
ravines of Agra and Etawah (Duthie), and in Bundelkhand (Duthie) 
and Saugor (Jerdon). This very distinct-looking plant is considered 
by Hooker to be probably a modified form of brevifolia with the 
bases of the branches buried in soil and hence almost leafless and very 
slender. 
2. P. orientale, Linn. Sp. Pl. 362; F. B. I. v, 30; Collett Fl. 
Siml. 421 ; Prain Beng. Pl. 886 ; Gage in Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind. ii, 
386 ; P. pilosum, Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii, 286. 
A tall erect branching annual, 3-10 ft. high, usually softly pubescent or 
silkily villous ; stems robust, grooved, branches hollow. Leaves 6-9 
in. long, ovate or ovate-cordate, acuminate ; petioles 1-4 in. long, 
stipules short, truncate, hirsute, ciliate at the mouth, expanded or 
LD 
