Polygonum."] cxix. POLYGONACEJ:. (J. D. Hooker.) 43 



with the petiole sometimes auricled at the base, uppermost sessile and deeply ainplexi- 

 caul. Peduncles axillary and subterminal, often forked ; heads -g- in. diam. ; 

 perianth white, 5-cleft. Stamens 8. Styles 2-3, slender, connate below, stigma capi- 

 tate. It is curious that of 60 specimens examined not one bears ripe fruit. Meissner and 

 Clarke (mss.) describe it as 3-gonous, but I find both digynoas andtrigynous flowers. 

 Meissner' s var. /3. subvillosa is a hirsute lea.ved state. Hamilton's P. ciliatum is a very 

 doubtful plant ; according to Don's description it differs from P. microcephalum only 

 in the decumbent stem. Meissner describes the peduncles as sometimes hispidulovs, 

 but I never find them so. 



43. P. Wallichii, Meissn. Monogr. Polyg. 83, t. 7, f. 1, in Watt. PL 

 As. Ear. iii. 60, and in DC. Prodr. xiv. 1. 129 ; glabrous, stem slender de- 

 cumbent, branches ascending, leaves 1-2 in. ovate-cordate acuminate cilio- 

 late, petiole not winged auricled at the base, stipules ciliolate, heads small, 

 peduncles subterminal short very slender quite glabrous, involucral leaf or 

 small, bracts broadly oblong obtuse eciliate. Wall. Cat. 1702, excl. cit. of 

 Wight. 



TEMPEE ATE HIMALAYA ; Nepal, Wallich, Scully , Sikkim, alt. 4000 ft., Clarke. 



Root perennial, creeping. Stems 2-3 ft., flexuous, stout, angled and grooved, 

 prostrate but not rooting. Leaves 1-2 in., rather abruptly acuminate, uppermost 

 cordate amplexicaul, auricles minute green ; stipules long, loose, glabrous or hairy. 

 Peduncles subterminal ; heads as in P. microcephalum, but bracts not ciliate. Perianth 

 5-fid. Stamens 6-8. Nut trigonous. I have seen only a few specimens. The habit, 

 and naked petioles with minute basal auricles and eciliate bracts distinguish this from 

 P. microcephalum. Meissner is in error in citing Wight's t. 1805 for this; it is 

 clearly jP. sphcerocephalum. 



44. P. sphaerocephalum, Wall. Cat. 1703 ; rarely glabrous, stem very 

 long slender creeping, branches short erect, leaves 1-3 in. ovate- or oblong- 

 cordate acuminate ciliolate, petiole not winged nor auricled, stipules 

 truncate mouth naked, peduncles glandular-hairy terminal and axillary, 

 involucral leaf 0, bracts ovate-oblong acute eciliate. Meissn. in Wall. PL As. 

 Bar. iii. 60 ; Sab. in Trans. Linn. Soc. xviii. 107 ; G-cercke in Sot. Reise Pr. 

 Waldem. 136. P. Wallichii, Wight Ic. 1. 1805. P. podocephalum, Elotzsch 

 in Sot. Reise Pr. Waldem. t. 86. 



TEMPERATE HIMALAYA; Nepal, Wallich; Kurnaon, alt. C-SOOO ft., Royle, &c. 

 NILGHIEI MTS., Wight. 



* Perennial ?. Stems 2-3 ft. long, rooting at the nodes, angular and grooved ; 

 branches erect from the nodes, 2-4 in. high, with 2-3 long-petioled leaves terminating 

 in a solitary 1-headed peduncle. Leaves 1-3 in., eglandular, sparsely hairy or 

 glabrous; petiole ^ to 1 in., winged at the top only. Heads % in. diam. ; flowers longer 

 than the bracts, rose-cold. Nut flat or 3-gonous. A specimen in Wight's Her- 

 barium has much larger leaves (3-3^ by 2 in.), with petioles winged to near the base ; 

 it is marked P. Wallichii ? and is the only one seen of the Nilgihri plant figured by 

 Wight. In the plate he correctly figures the peduncles as hairy, and the stipules as 

 eciliate, but he describes the former as glabrous, and the latter as shortly ciliate. He 

 has, I suppose, figured sphcerocephalum from native specimens, and copied Meissner' s 

 description of P. Wallichii. 



45. P. runcinatum, Ham. in Don Prodr. 73 ; stem ascending from 

 a creeping base smooth scabrid or hairy, leaves ruucinate-pinnatifid glabrous 

 terminal lobe triangular-ovate acuminate, petiole short with amplexicaul 

 auricles, peduncles glandular-hispid above, heads large, involucral leaf 0, 

 bracts oblong eciliate, nut minute globosely 3-gonous. Meissn. Monog. 

 Polyg. 85, in Wall. PI. As. Ear. iii. 60, and in DC.^Prodr. xiv. 1. 130 ; 

 Wall. Cat. 1698. P. reticulatum, De Smyn. in PL Jungh. 300. 



CENTRAL and EASTERN HIMALAYA; Nepal, Hamilton, Wallich -, Sikkim, alt. 



