60 CXIX. POLYGONACEyE. (J. D. Hooker,) [Ru//K'.i'. 



the other Indian annual sppcies by its broad irregularly -toothed wings, the teeth of 

 which are not hooked. A specimen from Oude has very narrow wings, and thus 

 shows a transition to nigricans. I cannot in HeTt^rium specimens distinguish large 

 specimens of this with petioled floral leaves cordate at th base from states of 

 R. nepalensis. Except for its shorter pedicels, this would pass for R. obtusifolius, L. 



5. R. nepalensis, Spreng. Syst. ii. 159 ; perennial ?, tall, branched, 

 radical leaves large oblong ovate^oblong or triangular-ovate acute or obtuse 

 base widely or narrowly cordate, upper sessile or petioled similar or with 

 narrowed bases, racemes elongate, whorls distant, valves orbicular-ovate one 

 or all with an oblong tubercle broadly winged, wing pectinately toothed 

 strongly reticulate, teeth usually hooked at the tip. Boiss. FL Orient, iv. 

 1011 ; Wall. Cat. 1728; Meissn. in Wall. PI. As. Ear. iii. 64, in Linncea 

 xiv. 192, and in DC. Prodr. xiv. 1, 55 ; Wight Ic. 1. 1810. R. Roxburghianus, 

 Schultes fil. Syst. vii. 1402 (not of Wallich}. R. hamatus, Trevir. in Nov. 

 Act. Leopold, xiii. 174; Meissn. in DC. 1. c. 56. R. ramulosus, Meissn. in 

 DC. I. c. R. peregrinus, Boiss. Diagn. Ser. 1, v. 46. R. tuberosus, Roxb. 

 in Herb. Willd. (ex Meissn.}. R. uncinatus, Sort. 



TEMPERATE HIMALAYA ; from Bhotan to Kashmir, alt. 4-9000 ft. (12,000 on the 

 Chenab, Stewart}. KHASIA MTS. ? WESTERN PENINSULA ; on the Ghats from the 

 Concanto the Nilghiris. DISTRIB. Westward to Asia Minor, Java, S. Africa. 



Root with tuberous fibres (Boissier). Stem 2 -4 ft., stout, erect. Lower leaves 

 often 6-14 by 3-5 in., undulate or not; petiole very slender, upper petioled or sessile. 

 Probably not specifically different from R. pulcher, L. 



Sect. II. Aoetosa, Tournef. Flowers unisexual or polygamous. 

 Styles arising from the angles of the ovary, inner sepals (valves) much 

 enlarged, membranous, entire, midrib with a deflexed tubercle near its base. 

 Leaves hastate. 



6. R. scutatus, Linn. ; Boiss. FL Orient, iv. 1015 ; perennial, poly- 

 gamous, papillose, stem creeping below branched, leaves all long-petioled 

 hastately cordate or sub-3-lobed lateral lobes rounded suddenly contracted 

 into the narrower midlobe, racemes very slender, whorls 2-4-fld. distant, 

 valves cordate at the base. Meissn. in DC. Prodr. xiv. 1. 69 ; Campd. 

 Bum. 132, t. 2, f. 6. % R. hastifolius, M. Biel. FL Taur. Gauc. i. 290. 



WESTERN HIMALAYA ; Simla, Thomson. DISTRIB. Persia and westward to 

 Middle and South Europe and N. Africa. 



Somewhat glaucous. Branches slender, 1-2 ft., flexuous, dichotomously divided, 

 ending in long lax panicles. Leaves 1-2 in. diani., the lobes all broad. Flowers 

 small ; pedicels jointed about the middle, elongating in fruit. The specimens are not 

 in fruit. 



7. R. hastatus, Don Prodr. 74 ; glaucous, polygamous, branches 

 erect from a stout shrubby base all petioled rhombic deltoid or hastately 

 3-lobed with the lobes all narrow, racemes very slender panicled. whorls 

 few-rid, distant, valves orbicular notched at both ends. Meissn. in Wall. PL 

 As. Ear. iii. 64, and in DC. Prodr. xiv. 1. 72 ; Wall. Cat. 1729. 



HIMALAYA; from Kumaon to Kashmir, alt. 1-8000 ft. BHOTAN, Booth. 

 DISTRIB. Afghanistan. 



Eootstock woody, often as thick as the thumb ; branches much divided, slender, 

 1-2 ft., obscurely angled. Leaves -1 in., coriaceous, nerveless. Racemes ending the 

 branches, rachis filiform ; flowers very small, pedicels lengthening in fruit. Valves 

 i- in. diam., often pink, very delicately veined. 



8. R. acetosa. Linn. ; Boiss. FL Orient, iv. 1015 ; perennial, dioecious, 



