40 cxix. POLTGONACEvE. ( J. D. Hooker.) [Polijgonum. 



glabrous or strigose. Leaves 2-6 in., glabrous altogether or with the exception of 

 the costa and nerves beneath, or hispidly or strigosely hairy on the surfaces or below 

 only,-brown when dry, more [or less glandular. Stipules usually very strigose with 

 stiff appressed hairs, cilia often as long as the tube. Racemes subpaniculate, some- 

 times 6 in. long and extremely slender; bracts glabrous, more or less ciliate, glan- 

 dular or not; perianth bright pink, very thickly glandutof. Stamens 8. ^Nut small, 

 black, minutely granular. The taller, 'longer-leaded, hairy forms of this are very 

 distinct from P. Hydropiper, but amongst a large suite of specimens of both, some 

 occur that it is difficult to refer to one rather than to the other. As pointed out under 

 P. serrulatum, Roxburgh's P. flaccidum is that plant. This obliges me to retain the 

 name (flaccidum) as Meissner's, though in so doing I am unable to take in his syno- 

 nymy and his varieties, which are much confused. Boissier gives Affghanistan 

 Griffith as a locality for this species, but I have seen no specimens, and his description 

 quite agrees with the Indian plant. I can hardly doubt this being Roth's P. 

 Rottleri, which he received from Heyne (under the name of P. barlatum, Rottler), 

 but am puzzled by his description of " style quite simple and stigma capitate "in. 

 allied species he always speaks of stigmas. I do not see how glabrous forms differ 

 from the American P. acre, HBk., except, as Meissner observes (in Fl. Bras.), by the 

 granulate (not smooth polished) nut. 



Var. Uspida ; leaves elliptic ovate much smaller 1-1^ in. long, hirsute beneath or 

 on both surfaces, glands of perianth less strong. P. hispidum, Ham. in Don Prodr. 71, 

 not ofMeissn. or Bab. P. Posumbu, Meissn. in DC. 1. c. 105, in part. P. Hamil- 

 tonii, Spreng. Syst. Veg,, Cur. post. 155 (not of Meissn.). P. Babingtoni, Endl. 

 Gen. PL Suppl. iv. 47, excl. syn. Sal. P. mite, Wall. Cat. 1723, 1 a, in part. 

 Nepal, Hamilton-, Kumaon, at Nairn tal, alt. 6400 ft., Strach. # Winterl. (No. 17) ; 

 Hawalbagh, Thomson. A specimen in Wallich's Herbarium of Hamilton's P. hispi- 

 dum shows that^this plant has been misunderstood first by Babington, who described 

 for it a variety of P. barlatum, or P. Bishirce, followed by Meissner (in DeCandolle), 

 who did the same, adopting the name of Hamiltonii, which had been proposed for it 

 by Sprengel (there being an earlier P. hispidum)', and lastly by Endlicher, who 

 included both Hamilton's and Babington's plants under the third name of P. Babing- 

 toni. Beyond this I have been unable to unravel completely the synonymy of this 

 obscure plant, which differs from P. flaccidum in its much shorter leaves and less 

 glandular perianth. It resembles P. serrulatum var. Donii, which differs in the 

 coarse strong cilia of the bracts, 



38. P. macranthum, Meissn. in DC. Prodr. xiv. 1. 207 ; tall, erect, 

 stem glabrous or spars-ely strigose, leaves 3-6 in. petioled elliptic-lanceolate 

 acuminate glabrous or sparsely hispid beneath, stipules substrigose, cilia as 

 long as the tube, racemes long narrow erect strict, bracts closely imbricate 

 with one or two removed far below glabrous shortly ciliate eglandular, 

 perianth very large, nut large polished. Polygonum, No. 21, Herb. Ind. 

 Or. H.f. Sf t. 



ASSAM, Wallich, Griffith, &c. SILHET, the JHEELS and KHASIA MTS., ascending 

 to 5000 ft., J. D. H. $ T.T., Clarke. 



Habit and size of P. flaccidum, but at once distinguished by the strict rarely 

 flexuous (never decurved) racemes 3-6 in. long, with closely imbricating bracts and 

 the polished nut. I have seen but two flowering specimens, in which the perianth is 

 nearly \ in. diatn. ; and from the small size of the buds in numerous other specimens 

 I suspect that the perianth may vary much in size. The nut is nearly | in. long, 

 jet-black, quite smooth, shining with obtuse angles. 



Sect. YITT. CrnALo?HiLON. Meissn. ; erect or prostrate unarmed 

 annuals, rarely perennial-rooted, or shrubs. Leaves usually broad entire or 

 runcinately lobed or auricled ; stipules short, tubular. Flowers in single 

 or corymbose heads (spikes in P. muricatum) ; bracts flat, hardly tubular. 

 Perianth 4-5-lobed or -partite. Stamens 6-8, glands or obscure. Styles 

 2-3, filiform, connate below or throughout, stigmas capitate. Nut tri- 



