Leontice.] flora indica. 229 



There is also in our Sikkim collections (from alt. 9000 ped.) a Berberis belonging 

 apparently to this section, but which, from want of fruit, we have not been able to 

 reduce to any of the above, it being in flower and young leaf only. The flowers 

 are small, otherwise bike those of B. concinna and macrosepala, but they are fascicu- 

 late or subumbellate on a slender peduncle. The leaves are obovate lanceolate, en- 

 , tire, aristate, and in the young state membranous. 



2. LEONTICE, L. 



Sepala 6, colorata. JPetala 6, sepalis opposita, breviora, unguicnlata ; 

 uugue squamula aucto. Stamina 6, petalis opposita ; antheris extrorsis 

 valvulis a basi sursum revolutis dehiscentibus. Ovarium 1-loculare; 

 ovulis basilaribus. Stylus brevis rectus ; stigtuate simplici. Capsula ve- 

 sicaria, mernbranacea, irregulariter rupta. Semina subglobosa, basi ex- 

 cavata, urabilicata. Embryo in albuminis dense carnosi basi endopleurse 

 duplicatura vaginatus, minimus; cotyledonibus brevissimis subdivari- 

 cat is ; radicula infera. — Herbse glaberrimce> rhizomate tuberoso peren- 

 nante, caulibus annuls, foliis radicalihas sectis. 



The nearest ally of this genus is the North American Caulophyllum thalictroides , 

 Mich., which agrees with it in most characters, but differs in habit and inflorescence, 

 in the bracts external to the sepals, in the fleshy sarcocarp of its fruit, and in the 

 latter becoming ruptured long before the ripening of the seeds. Several species of 

 Leontice are enumerated besides the L. Leontopetalum > some of which may occur in 

 Tibet, or the provinces west of India proper ; but of these the L. Altaica, which 

 ranges from Odessa to Tarbagatai in Soongaria (near the confines of Western Tibet), is 

 the only one of which we have an accurate knowledge. Of the L. Fesicaria^Fal., 

 and Z. Eversmannii, Bunge, we have seen only imperfect specimens, which we can- 

 not distinguish from small states of L. Leontopodium. 



The induplication of the inner coat of the seed, which forms a sheath to the 

 radicle of the embryo, is a very remarkable and hitherto unexplained fact, which 

 requires a careful study of the ovule in all stages of growth. 



1. L. Leontopetalum (Linn. Sp. PL 448) ; foliis biternatim ser- 

 tis, foliolis petiolatis obovatis obtusis coriaceis, bracteis oblongis sub- 

 foliaceis pedicellis gracilibus multoties brevioribus. — Lam. III. t. 254. 

 /. 1 ; DC. Syst. ii. 25, Prod. i. 109 ; Led. Fl. Boss. i. 81 ; Griff. It. Notes 



in -Afghan. Journ. No. 235. 



Hab. Inmontibus Afghanistan, Griffith! Beluchistan, Stocks! — (FL 



vere.) (v.s.) 



Distrib. Etruria, Apulia, Crete (DC), Grecia! Asia media {Lede- 

 bour) et minore ! Syria ! Mesopotamia ! Persia ! 



Herba robusta, £-1 i-pedalis, glaucescens. Radix tuberosa. Cauli* crassus, me- 

 dullosns. Folia radicalia 1-2, caulina parva, longe petiolata, petiolo basi vaginante 

 atnplexicauli, late deltoidea, biternata, 3-7 poll, lata; foliolis 4-14-poIIicaribus inte- 

 gerrimis reticulatim venosis, supremis lohatis partitisve. Racemus strictus, erectus, 

 crassus, simplex v. basi ramosus, pedicellis inferioribus folio ternato bracteatis, brac- 

 teis superioribus 2 lin. ad i poll, longia, orbicularis oblongisve, obtusis. Pedicelli 

 graciles, patentes, 1-2-pollicares. Flares plurimi, aurei, i poll, diametro. Sepala 

 6, obovata. Petal a parva, carnosa, pedicellata, late orbiculata, sabtriloba, filamenturn 

 crassiusculum amplectentia. Ovarium oblique ovatum, in stylum crassum truncatum 

 attenuatum; stujmate terminali ; ovulis 2-3. Capsula inflata, diametro poUicari, 

 mcmbranacea, reticulatim venosa, oblique apiculata, demuui obconica, apice irregula- 

 riter rupta. Semina 3, basilaria, globosa, bmunea v. glauca, diametro pisi minoris. 



