Polyfjonum.~\ cxix. POLYGONACE^E. (J. D. Hooker.) 49 



Sect. X. ACONOGON, Meissn. Shrubs, rarely perennial-rooted herbs. 

 Leaves usually broad ; stipules tubular, eciliate. Flowers in branched 

 panicles, pedicelled ; bracts not tubular, very open. Perianth 5-partite. 

 Stamens 8, rarely fewer, with or without inte r posed glands. Styles 2-3, 

 short, free or connate below, stigmas capitate. Nut trigonous, not tightly 

 enclosed in the perianth ; cotyledons accuinbenfc 



* Tall herbaceous or shrub-like species. Flowers very small ^-\ in. diam. ; 

 perianth cleft nearly to the cuneate base, segments spreading. 



56. P. alpinum, All. FL Pedem. i. 206", t. 68,. f. 1 ; stem glabrous, or 

 young parts softly pubescent, pale reddish or white, leaves shortly petioled 

 lanceolate or linear-lanceolate acuminate glabrous or puberulous, flowers in 

 terminal thyrsoid dense-tid. pyramidal panicles, perianth g- in. diam. 

 cleft nearly to the cuneate base, inner segments obovate-spathulate, nut 

 broadly rhomboid-ovoid acutely 3-gonous pale rather longer than the 

 enlarged perianth. Meissn, Monog. Polyg. 56, t. 3 G ; Boiss. Fl. Orient, iv. 

 1031. P. sibiricum, Linn.fil. Suppl. 228 (not of Pallas}. P. acidum, Pall. 

 Eeise ii. 25, iii. 316 (fid. Ledeb.). P. divaricatum, Vill. Dauph. iii. 322 (not 

 of Linn.}. P. polymorphum & alpinum, Meissn. in DC. Prodr. xiv. 1. 

 139. 



NORTH- WESTERN HIMALAYA ; from Kulu to Kashmir, alt. 7-12 000 ft., Thomson, 

 &c. DISTEIB. Turkestan westward to S. Spain, Siberia, N. America, 



Root perennial. Stems 6 ft., annual, grooved, paler than in any of the following 

 species. Leaves 3-5 in., glabrous or finely pubescent beneath especially, margins 

 flat; base acute; stipules long, lax r deciduous above the base. Inflorescence a foot 

 long and more, of myriads of white or pale pink flowers ; pedicels much longer than 

 the short obtuse bracts, jointed close below the perianth or lower down. Nut in. 

 long, shining This agrees well with the European and N. Asiatic pi-ant. Boissier 

 and Meissner give Affghanistan as a habitat, but Griffith's specimens have much 

 larger sepals which conceal the much smaller nut, ?and the inflorescence is more 

 corymbose; I refer them to P. polystachyum. Eaten raw and. cooked ; tastes like 

 rhubarb (Aitchison). 



57. P. paniculatum, Blume Bijd. 533 ; shrubby, quite glabrous, 

 branches terete, leaves petioled elliptic-ovate or -lanceolate acuminate or 

 caudate-acuminate base acute or rounded, flowers in terminal large lax-fid, 

 thyrsoid panicles, perianth ^ in. diam., segments oblong, nut very small 

 included in the simple or baccate perianth. Meissn, Monog. Polyg. 95, and 

 in DC. Prodr. xiv. 1. 137; Miguel Fl. Ind. Sat. i. 1012. 



TEMPERATE HIMALAYA, Herb. Griffith; Garwhal, alt. 5-6000 ft., Duthie; 

 E. Nepal and Sikkim, alt. 7-800Q ft., J. D. H. DISTRIB. Java. 



A shrub, 4-6 ft., with flexuous branches that are not grooved. Leaves 5-7 by 

 2-3 in., firm, often black when dry. Margins ciliolate ; nerves 15-30 pairs ; petiole 

 i-1 in. ; stipules with a long limb deciduous above the base. Panicle effuse, quite 

 glabrous ; pedicels usually short, but here and there long ; bracts minute, obtuse ; 

 Sowers white. Nut T ' 2 in. long, turgidly ovoid, 3-gonous, black. The Indian 

 specimens are perfectly glabrous, Javan have minute pubescence on the midrid and 

 nerves beneath. Duthie's Garwhal plant has more membranous fewer-nerved (10-14 

 pairs) leaves, and pedicels sometimes in. long; but the number of nerves varies 

 remarkably in individual specimens of all the species of this section. 



58. P. rude, Meissn. in DC. Prodr. xiv. 1. 137; shrubby, branches 

 stout terete strigose with depressed hairs, leaves petioled elliptic-lanceolate 

 acuminate softly pubescent beneath or on the nerves only, flowers in 

 large terminal thyrsoid hirsute panicles, perianth ^ in. diam., segments 



VOL. v. E 



