298 cxxxv. EurHORBiACE.E. (J. D. Hooker.) [Phyllanilws. 



ft Herbs. 



33. P. pendulus, Eoxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 663; biennial, suffruticose, 

 erect, quite glabrous, branchlets filiform very long drooping, leaves J in. 

 distichous subsessile narrowly elliptic-lanceolate acute, flowers axillary very 

 shortly pedicelled springing from short peduncles clothed with decussately 

 imbricating entire bracts, anthers 3, filaments united above the middle, 

 styles reflexed arms recurved. 



BENGAL ; very rare, Roxburgh. 



Stem 2-3 ft., branches twiggy. Leaves with red margins. Bracteate peduncles 

 when fully grown half as long as the leaves ; bracts white, acute, membranous. Sepals 

 broadly ovate, acute, of female hardly enlarged and not reflexed in fruit. Disk of 

 male broad, 6-lobed, of fern, crenate. Capsule T \j in. depressed globose. A remarkable 

 plant, described from Roxburgh's Flora and his drawing at Kew. He states that the 

 flowers are altogether like those of P. Niruri, but his figure of the sepals is very 

 different, as are the anthers. Mueller, probably by an oversight, says he has seen speci- 

 mens. 



34. P. Niruri, Linn. Sp. PL 981 ; annual, quite glabrous, leaves i-f 

 in. membranous subsessile elliptic-obovate oblong or linear tip rounded 

 obtuse or acute, nerves few obscure, flowers minute shortly pedicelled, 

 sepals 5-6, of male orbicular, anthers 3 sessile on a short column didymous, 

 styles minute very short free 2-lobed, capsule minute, seeds with equal 

 slender ribs and transverse strise. MuelL Arg. in Linntsa xxxii. 43, and 

 in DC. Prodr. xv. ii. 406 ; Koxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 659 ; Grah. Cat. Bomb. PI. 

 180 ; Dalz. Sf G-ibs. Bomb. Fl. 234 ; Thwaites Enum. 282 ; Wall. Cat. 7895 

 (excl. part of A) ; Wight Ic. t. 1894. P. urinaria, Herb. Suss. P. Lon- 

 phali, Herb. Madr. P. polyphyllus, Herb. Wight. Nvmphanthus Niruri, 

 Lour. FL Cock. 545.Burm. Fl. Zeyl. t. ^.Rheede Hort. Mai. x. t. 15. 



Throughout the hotter parts of India ; from the PANJAB to ASSAM, and southward 

 to TRAVANCOR, MALACCA and CEYLON, ascending the hills to 3000 ft. DISTRIB. 

 Tropics generally, except Australia. 



A weed, 6-18 in. high, branched from the base, with an erect stem naked below, 

 and slender leafy angular branches above. Leaves variable, pale green, often 

 distichously imbricating, glaucous beneath ; petiole minute ; stipules subulate. Flowers 

 very numerous, males solitary and 2-nate T \j in. diarn., almost sessile; fern. -J- in. 

 diam. Sepals of male orbicular, of fern, narrowly obovate-oblong with broad white 

 margins, not enlarged in fruit, spreading, not reflexed. Disk of male of minute glands ; 

 of fern, annular, lobed. Capsule -^^ "* diam., depressed-globose, smooth, hardly 

 lobed, thinly crustaceous. Seeds with equal parallel slender ribs and faint cross stria3. 

 As Mueller observes, Thomson's specimens (from Moradabad) have hirtellous tips of 

 the branchlets; this is just as in P. urinaria and scabrifolius. 



35. P. inaniis, Hook.f. ; annual, quite glabrous, stems rigid short 

 prostrate or ascending, leaves in. petioled oblong obtuse, nerves obscure, 

 flowers very minute shortly pedicelled, sepals ovate-oblong outer acute, 

 anthers sessile on a short column didymous, styles minute free reflexed very 

 short, capsules minute, seeds with strong parallel and transverse ribs. 



BURMA ; at Tsegau, Griffith. 



Root stout, tortuous, woody. Stem or branches 4-8 in., with spreading and re- 

 curved leafy slender branchlets. Leaves the smallest of Indian species, rather coria- 

 ceous, base rounded; nerves 3-4 pair, obscure; petiole minute; stipules minute, 

 subulate. Flowers very minute; males -^ in. diam., fern. ^ with a thickened pedicel 

 about as long, in fruit |^ T in. diam., and not reflexed. Sepals 5-6, coriaceous, with 

 pale margins. Disk in both sexes of glands; glands of male pedicelled ; of fern, larger, 

 erect. Styles thick, 2-lobed. Capsule -Jg- in. diam., globose, smooth, crustaceous. 



