Rumex] c'xix. POLYGON ACE^E. (J. D. Hooker.) 59 



WESTERN TIBET; alt, 11-13.000 ft., Thomson, &c. DISTRIB. Westward to Asia 

 Minor, Syria and Greece. 



Stem'3-4 ft., often very stou 4 -, deeply grooved. Lower leaves 1-2 ft., upper narrow 

 at the base. Valves J ^ in. long, quite entire in all Indian specimens, pale, flat, 

 finely reticulate. The Indian specimens with no tubercle resemble R. aquaticus, L., 

 and those with a tubercle R. Patientia, and I do not see why all these should not 

 be united. 



** Inner fruiting -sepals with very narroiv margins and few or no teeth. 



2. R. maritimus, Linn.; Meissn. in DO. Prodr. xiv. 1. 59 ; annual, 

 leaves lanceolate narrowed into the petiole, panicle leafy to the top, valves 

 rhombic- or oblong-ovate with a lanceolate tip all with an oblong tubercle 

 unarmed or with 2-3 long needle-like spines. Fl. Dan. t. 1208. E. palus- 

 tris, Sm. Fl. Brit. i. 394 ; Fl. Dan. t. 1873 ; Boiss. FL Orient, iv. 1014. E. 

 Wallichii, Meissn. I. c. 48. E. Wallichianus, Meissn. in Wall. PL As. Rar. 

 iii. 64. E. acutus, Roxb. Fl. 2nd. ii. 208. E. Eoxburghianus, Wall. Cat. 

 1731, in part. E. comosus & setaceus, Ham. mss. ; Wall. Cat. 6287, 6288. 

 E. chinensis, Campd. Rum. 63, 76. 



Marshes in ASSAM, SILHET, CACHAE, and BENGAL, common. DISTEIB. Europe, 

 Asia, N. Africa, JST. and S. America. 



Stem 1-4 ft., angled and deeply grooved. Leaves 3-10 in., petioled, base always 

 narrowed into the petiole. Whorls of flowers lax or dense, many- or few-fld. 

 Fruiting perianths all unarmed, or, on the same plant, some armed and some unarmed, 

 yellow brown when ripe, tubercle smooth, with a narrow sometimes reticulate margin ; 

 spine sometimes 4 times as long as the valve, tip straight or slightly hooked. The 

 fruit varies greatly in size and number and length of the spines or the valves, and 

 I am quite unable to discriminate between the various plants I have here referred 

 to R. maritimus. 



3. R. nigricans, HooJc.f. ; annual, leaves linear-oblong obtuse con- 

 tracted above the cordate base, flowering branches rigid divaricate leafy 

 or leafless, fruiting perianths densely crowded in globose distant or con- 

 fluent heads, turning black in drying, pedicels short, valves with very large 

 oblong dark tubercles and lanceolate tips, margins very narrow entire or 

 with one or two short straight teeth or spines. E. dentatus, Wall. Cat. 

 1730 (not of Linn.}. 



BENGAL,- Clarice. KHASIA MTS., Griffith. BEHAE, J. D. H. DECCAN PENIN- 

 SULA, Herb. Heyne (Wallich). 



Stem 6-18 in., angled and grooved. Leaves 6-8 by 1-lfc in., thin ; petiole long, 

 slender. Fruiting perianth much larger than in R. maritimus, very dark when dry, 

 as is the whole raceme. Closely resembles R. conglomerate, but the leaf is panduri- 

 form, and the tips of the valves acute. 



*** Inner fruiting -sepals with broad much-toothed wings. 



4. R. dentatus, Linn. ; Boiss. Fl. Orient, iv. 1013; annual, leaves 

 oblong obtuse often contracted above the rounded or cordate base, often 

 waved or crisped, whorls distinct leafy or not, fruiting perianth ovate or 

 oblong-ovate with an oblong smooth tubercle and broad densely reticulated 

 wings which are irregularly toothed, teeth short stout straight. Meissn. 

 in DC. Prodr. xiv. 1. 56 (exd. syn. Wall. Cat.}. E. Eoxburghianus, Wall. 

 Cat. 1731, in part. E. Klotzschianus, Meissn. 1. c. 57. E. obtusifolius, 

 Serb. Ham., Wall. Cat. 6289. Eumex, No. 3, Herb. Strach. fy Winterb. 



From ASSAM and SILHET to the INDUS, common, ascending the Himalaya to 

 1 000 ft. SCINDE, Stocks. The CONCAN, Law, &c. 



Habit of R. Patientia, L., to which this is closely allied. Distinguishable from 



