278 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [Sess. lxxviif. 



" Cette species est annuelle (en quoi elle differe aussi de 

 toutes les autres Plombaginees) a tiges paniculees; ses 

 feuilles sont sinuolees ou denticulees, minces, glabres, 

 sessiles, amplexicaules, cordiformes-bilobees a la base (a 

 oreillettes plus ou moins adnees) couvertes en dessous d'une 

 poussiere glauque. Les fleurs sont glomerulus aux ais- 

 selles des feuilles superieures et des bractees." 



In Ledebour's description the habitat is given as " Prope 

 pagum Tschetschulicha ad fluvium Tscharysch, unico 

 tantum loco, ubi olim ager Calmuckorum fuisse dicitur " — 

 in the Altai Mountains. The occurrence of the genus in 

 the Himalaya is an interesting extension of the range. 

 Among the specimens collected in the Chumbi Valley in 

 1912 by Rohmoo Lepcha is a small dwarf representative of 

 the Altai plant which at first sight looks a distinct species. 

 After careful dissection, however, and comparison with the 

 examples of the Altai plant at Kew, I am unable to justify 

 separation specifically, but the Himalayan plant should be 

 distinguished at least by a varietal name. 



Plumbagella micrantha, Spach, var. himalaica, W. W. 

 Sm. Var. nov. 



Varietas nana 5-10 cm. alta, basi ramosa ; rami subde- 

 cumbentes sparse muriculati ; flores subcapitati, bracteis 

 ovatis imbricatis nigrescentibus fere occulti. 



Eastern Himalaya. — At Chugya in the Chumbi Valley, 

 alt. 15,000 feet ; Rohmoo Lepcha, No. 288 in Herb. Edin. et 

 Herb. Kew. et Herb. Calcutt. 



I find no reference to the occurrence of the plant in 

 China, nor do I find any record from Tibet. It is, however, 

 the type of plant which is likely to frequent the Tibetan 

 plateau, and no doubt, when its distribution is more fully 

 known, it will be found that the centre of its habitat is 

 Tibet, and that the Himalayan and Altai records are 

 " outliers " from that. 



The tubercles on the fruit suggest to me the mode of 

 dispersal of Circaeaster agrestis, Maxim. — the fruits of both 

 species are adapted to cling to the wool of sheep, and I 

 believe that, as in the case of Circaeaster, the wandering 

 flocks are the chief factor in the increase of the area of 

 distribution. Neither species appears to be such as would 

 succeed in opposition to the local flora unless aided by some 



