Order 26. Geraniacece. 43 



2. BIOPHYTUM. Herbs with pinnate leaves more or less 

 radiating from the top of the stem, leaflets oblique, otherwise 

 like Oxalis. 



1. OXALIS. 



0. corniculata. A small more or less hairy weed, leaflets 

 broad obcordate, flowers yellow, more or less umbellate, calyx 

 persistent, capsule like a silique, erect angular, very hairy, 

 seeds many. Ndlkarda, aiributi. 



A common weed. Cosmopolitan and very variable (H.). I have 

 fonnd it in Sussex and S. Italy, as well as in India. The leaves are 

 characteristic of the genus, and would remind anyone of the English 

 wood-sorrel, 0. acetosella. 



2. BIOPHYTUM. 



B. sensitivum. A small plant with a whorl of pinnate 

 leaves at the top of the stem, leaflets many pairs oblong, flowers 

 yellow, several together on peduncles of various lengths, sepals 

 tipped with red, capsule roundish, many-seeded. Ldjri. 



H. gives three varieties. The leaves are very sensitive; very 

 common. 



To this tribe also belongs Averrhoa; trees with pinnate leaves, of 

 which two species are cultivated, A. carambola karmal, karamlal ; the 

 fruit like a plantain, but acutely angled, has a (to me) delicious 

 flavour, though very acid : and * A. bilimbi, bailimbi, dhdkta anvdla, 

 the obtusely angled fruit of which grows on the trunk and 

 branches. 



TRIBE BALSAMINE^E. Balsams. 



Leaves simple, flowers very irregular, sepals and petals 3 to 

 5, sepals coloured, one spurred, stamens 5, very short, anthers 

 more or less connected, capsule 5-valved, bursting with great 

 force. 



IMPATIENS. Succulent herbs, generally with showy flowers, 

 two lateral sepals small green, the third (lip) large, petal-like, 

 generally ending in a hollow spur ; two lateral petals (wings) 

 2-lobed, the third (standard) large, style none, stigma 5 

 divided. 



The flowers of this genus are unlike anything else, and therefore 

 easy of recognition, but it is often difficult to identify the species, of 

 which H. gives no less than 123, many of them with varieties. Of 

 these 14 are attributed to this Presidency, confined to the Konkan 

 and the Ghauts, as the balsams are essentially plants of moist climates. 



1. /. acaulis. A smooth low plant, leaves roundish crenated, 

 flowers pale pink, large, long-stalked, wings with 2 lobes, one 

 longer, spur very long, capsule acute at both ends. 



