226 cxxxii. LORANTHACEJE. (J. D. Hooker.) \Viscum. 



10. V. articulatum, Burnt. Fl. Ind. 311 ; leafless, branches flat- 

 tened, internodes 1-2 in. striate and furrowed when dry contracted at the 

 nodes, flowers very minute fascicled in cup-shaped bracts at the tops of the 

 iuternodes, perianth-lobes deciduous. DC. Prodr. iv. 284 5 Miquel Fl. Ind. 

 Bat. i. pt. 1, 806 ; Kurz For. Fl ii. 325. Y. attenuatum, DC. I. c. ; Wight 

 ft Am. Prodr. 380 ; Brand. For. Fl. 394. V. moniliforme, Blume B'ijd. 

 667, and FL Jav. Loranth. t. 25 B ; DC. I. c. Y. fragile, Wall. Cat. 498. 

 Y. compressum, Pair. JEncycl. Suppl. ii. 861 ; DC. I. c. ; Blume FL Jav. 

 Loranth. t. 24. Y. fragile, Wall. mss. in DC. L c. Y. aphyllum, Griff. 

 Not id. iv. 634, and Ic. PL Asiat. t. 630. 



SUBTEOPICAL HIMALAYA; from Chamba, ascending to 3000 ft., eastward to 

 Sikkim. ASSAM, MISHMI and the KHASIA MTS., ascending to 6000 ft., and south- 

 ward to TRAVANCORE, MALACCA and CEYLON. DISTRIB. Malay Islands. 



A pendulous much di-tri-chotomously branched green shrub, yellow or black when 

 dry ; internodes very variable in length and breadth, 12 by 7 g ^ in. Flowers few 

 or numerous in the cup-shaped bracts, 3-4-merous, arranged in depressed 3-fld. 

 spikes, of which the lateral flowers are usually male ; males with reflexed perianth- 

 lobes ; females bibracteolate with erect deciduous perianth-lobes. Fruit subglobose, 

 yellow, smooth. I think there can be no doubt of this common plant being Burmann's 

 V. articulatum and Blume's V. moniliforme, which latter name is usually given to 

 V. japonicum. There are two states of it. 



V. ARTICULATUM proper ; more slender, internodes rarely ^ in. broad. 



Var. dichotoma? Kurz For. Fl. ii. 325; much stouter, iuternodes thicker and 

 broader often % in. broad. V. dichotomum, Don Prodr. 147; DC. Prodr. iv. 284. 

 V. elongatum, Wall. Cat. 495 ; DC. L c. V. nepalense, Spreng. Syst., Cur. Post. 47. 

 V. opuntioides, Eoxl. Fl. Ind. iii. 764 ; Wall. Cat. 496. Viscum sp., Griff. Notul. 

 iv. 636, and Ic. PL Asiat. t. 632. Common in the Himalaya, Khasia Mts., the 

 higher hills of Pegu, and the Deccan Peninsula. Harvey (Fl. Cap. ii. 581) gives 

 this as a native of South Africa, but describes the fruit as mostly warted, which is 

 not the case in the Indian plant. 



**** Leafless. Perianth-lobes persistent. 



11. V. japonicum, Thunb. in Trans. Linn. Soc. ii. 329 ; a small 

 tufted leafless species, branches flattened contracted at the nodes, internodes 

 |-1 in. long, flowers very minute fascicled in cup-shaped bracts at the tips 

 of the internodes, perianth -lobes persistent. DC. Prodr. iv. 283. Y. 

 Opuntia, Thunb. Fl. Jap. 64. Y. articulatum, Miquel Prol. Fl. Jap. 297 ; 

 Frach. $ Sav. Enum. PL Jap. i. 406; Maxim. Diaan. xx. 616; P>enth. FL 

 Hongk. 141, and FL Austral, iii. 396. Y. tasnioides, Comm. in Thou. Mel. 

 Obs. 43; DC. I.e. 283; Baker FL Maurit. 135. Y. moniliforme, Wight 

 fy Arn. Prodr. 380 ; Wight Ic. 1. 1018, and Spic. Neelgherr. t. 87 ; Kurz For. 

 FL ii. 325 (not of Blume}. Y. articulatum, Brand. For. Fl. 393. Y. 

 "Wightianum, Wall. Cat. 6877 (not of Wight &[ Arn.). 



TEMPERATE HIMALAYA; from Murree to Kumaon, alt. 5-7000 ft. XHASIA. 

 MTS., alt. 4-5000 ft. MALACCA, on Mt. Ophir. NILGHIRI MTS., ascending to 

 7000 ft., Wight, &c. CEYLON, iu the most elevated parts of the Central Province. 

 DISTRIB. Mauritius, China, Japan, Australia. 



Much smaller than V. articulatum , erect, rarely 6 in. high, usually densely tufted, 

 very variable in the .breadth of the internodes. Inflorescence as in V. articulatum, 

 but perianth-segments (3-4) persistent. Fruit ^ in. long, ellipsoid. This very dis- 

 tinct species is usually referred to the Javanese V. moniliforme, Blume. Of this last 

 I have seen no authentic specimens, but its author describes it as abundant at 

 Bintenzorg, where V. japonicum is not likely to be found. I have seen no Javanese 

 specimens of V. japonicum, and it is not described in Miquel's Flora. Miquel, rightly 

 no doubt, refers Blume's moniliforme to articulatum, which is very common in Java. 

 Wallich's No. 6877 consists of several fragments of this, but there has been acci- 

 dentally fastened on the same sheet a scrap apparently of V. orientals. 



