50 oxix. POLYGONACE^. (J. D. Hooker.) [Polygonum. 



oblong nut very small exceeding the simple or baccate perianth. Wall. 

 Cat. 1685/2. P. molle, in part, Herb. Ind. Or. H.f. fy T. 



KHASIA MTS., alt. 4-5000 ft., DeSilva, Mack, &c. 



A robust shrub, 6-8 ft. ; branches stout, not grooved. Leaves 4-5 by 1^-2 in., 

 glabrous or finely pubescent above, base acute, nerves 10-30 pairs ^stipules glabrous or 

 sparsely hairy. Inflorescence as in P. paniculatum, but laxly hirsute with flexuous 

 hairs, flowers (white) and fruit nearly the same. 



? Var. sikkimensis ; branches glabrous except a few deflexed hairs at the nodes. 

 Sikkim ; Lachen, alt. 10,000 ft., J. D. H.Of this I have only a single specimen in 

 fruit; it is unlike either rude or molle in its all but. glabrous branches. The hairs of 

 the nodes and laxly hirsute panicle are those of P. rude. The fruiting perianths are 

 not baccate. 



59. P. molle, Don Prodr. 72 ; shrubby, branches stout terete villous 

 with erect or spreading hairs, leaves petioled. elliptic-lanceolate silkily 

 pubescent tomentose or villous beneath, flowers in large terminal thyrsoid 

 tomentose panicles, perianth ^ in. diam., segments oblong, nut included in 

 the usually baccate perianth. Meissn. Monog. Polyg. 56, in Wall. PI. As. 

 Bar. iii. 64 (partly], and in DC. Prodr. xiv. 1. 136 (excl. cit. of Wight 2c.) ; 

 Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1841, Misc. 66. Coccoloba Totnea, Ham. in Don Prodr. 

 74. 



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

 5-7000 ft., J. D. H., Clarke. MISHMI HILLS, Griffith. 



Habit and general characters of P. rude, but more softly tomentose, and with tho 

 hairs on the branches never deflexed, and stipules more silky. Floivers white. 



60. P. frondosum, Meissn. in DC. Prodr. xiv. 1. 137 ; shrubby, quite 

 glabrous, branches stout terete, leaves broadly ovate- or elliptic-oblong 

 acuminate or caudate-acuminate, base rounded or cordate, flowers in short 

 thyrsoid axillary and larger terminal dense-fld. panicles, perianth T \j in. diam., 

 segments oblong, fruiting long-pedicelled, nut small longer than the perianth. 

 P. Hayii, Herb. Strach. $ Winterb. Polyg. n. 34. 



WESTERN HIMALAYA; Garwhal, Falconer', Kurnaon, alt. 7500-9000 ft., ^Edge- 

 worth, Strachey^ fy Winterbottom. 



A very distinct species, perfectly glabrous in all its parts, easily distinguished by 

 its very broad leaves, 5-7 by 2|-3| in., of firm texture, long petioles ^-1^ in., axillary 

 panicles, and the long pedicels of the fruiting perianths ^\ in. long ; the nuts are, 

 however, so diseased that this last may be an abnormal character. 



** Tall herbaceous or shrub-liJce species. Flowers ^in. diam. ; perianth 

 cleft nearly to the cuneate base, segments ividely spreading. 



61. P. polystachyumj Wall. Cat. 1686 ; shrubby, glabrous or pubes- 

 cent,brauches grooved, leaves subsessile or petioled oblong-lanceolate can date- 

 acuminate, base usually contracted and subhastately cordate or truncate, 

 flowers in large pubescent or glabrate terminal thyrsoid spreading panicles 

 with erect or decurved branches, pedicels very slender, perianth \ in. diam., 

 3 inner segments broadly obovate-spathulate, nut small triquetrous shorter 

 than the unaltered perianth. Meissn. in Wall. PI. As. Rar. iii. 61, and in 

 DC. Prodr. xiv. 1. 137 ; Sab. in Trans. Linn. Soc. xviii. 111. P. molle, 

 Wight Ic. 1. 1807 (not of Don). Polyg. n. 69, Herb. Ind. Or. H.f. 3f T. 



TEMPERATE HIMALAYA ; from Mishmi to Kashmir, alt. 70GO to 12,000 ft., and 

 to 14,000 ft. in Sikkim. DISTRIB. Afghanistan. 



Shrubby, 3-6 ft. high. Leaves 4-9 by 1^-3^ in., nerves very numerous, base of 

 the uppermost usually acute, of the lower sometimes the same, but usually as described 

 above; margins smooth or crisped; stipules ample, glabrous or sparsely hairy. 



