5. Amarantus.] 108. AMARANTACE^. 



Patna, Wall. (No. 6901a) ! Monghyr, Ham. ! Ranchi, Wood ! Singbhum, 

 common ! Probably in all districts. Fl., Fr. r.s., March, May, possibly through- 

 out the year. Cultivated like the others as a sag. 



The markedlj'^ rugose fruits and muticous tepals easily distinguish it. 



L. not or very indistinctly dotted, sec. n. about 5. 



Roxburgh says eaten but not cultivated. His A. fa^ciafus is a variety with a 

 pale crescentic band across the leaf. 



8. A. blitum, L. 



Stem grooved, erect or procumbent with more of the habit of A. 

 wangostanus, the lower part of the stem being often leafless and ending 

 in a terminal crown of leaves without terminal spikes or panicle. 

 Leaves small, -5-1 '5", rarely 2", dotted, ovate to elliptic-lanceolate, 

 obtuse retuse or emarginate, long-petioled with 5-7 sec. n. Clusters 

 of flowers cymose. Flowers minute. Tepals 3, linear-oblong or -lan- 

 ceolate, muticous or apiculate, -06" long, hyaline, bract scarcely 

 longer. Utricle globose with short obtusely conical tip, membranous, 

 circumsciss. Seed orbicular, deep red or shining black, margins 

 acute. 



Throughout India according to the F.B.I, and in the Western Provinces of 

 Bengal according to Bengal Plrnifs, but I see no specimens either at the Calcutta 

 Herbarium or at Kew from our area. 



The F.B.I, also gives a variety (A. oleraceus, L. ) described as tall, succulent, 

 ■with ovate, oblong or rounded leaves, clusters axillary and in terminal spikes, 

 utricle indehiscent. 



9. A. polygamus, L. Syn. A. polygonoides, Roxb. 



A small species with many erect and diffuse branches 4-8" long. 

 Leaves obovate or oblanceolate rounded, -3-1" long, tapering at 

 the base into a slender petiole, dotted beneath or not, sec. n. 5-6. 

 Clusters all axillary. Tepals 3, ending in a fine point. Utricle ovoid 

 rugose, about equalling the tepals, dehiscent or not. 



Gya, Clarke ! Fl. Dec. A widely spread species occurring commonly in upper 

 India, in Northern Bengal and in northern Madras. It is therefore probably 

 frequent in our province although so little collected. 



Roxburgh says that the branches are often coloured on the upper side, the leaves 

 often emarginate with a minute bristle in the sinus, apex of utricle red, seed 

 shining black. It is a wild species, but like others, used as a pot-herb. 



10. A. tenuifolius, Willd. 



A small species having somewhat the appearance of Polygonum 

 jilebejum, with very many diffuse branches from the rootstock 3-9" 

 long and narrow-oblong small leaves -2- -5" long, rounded at the apex 

 and tapering into the slender petiole, sec. n. 2-3. Clusters all axillary, 

 very small. Tepals 2 in the male, Roxburgh says 1-2 and often 

 irregular in the female. Utricle as long as tepals, coloured and longi- 

 tudinally furrowed, not dehiscent. Seed lenticular with obtuse 

 border. 



Patna, Ham. ! Fl. Ain-il-June. 



6. PUPALIA, Juss. 



Herbs or undershrubs with opposite leaves and perfect and imperfect 

 flowers mixed together in spiked (contracted paniculate) clusters, 

 the imperfect reduced to awns with stellately spreading hooked 

 bristles. Sepals 5, herbaceous, acuminate, 3-5-nerved. Stamens 5, 



764 



