POLYGONUM.] POLYGON ACEM. 3a 



sensible gradations. Cooke Fl. Bomb, ii, 514. P. micranthemum 

 Francbet. 



VAR. 5. INDICA. Branches uniformly spreading all round from the 

 crown and leafy, internodes short. Leaves J-J in. long, linear or 

 obovate-oblong, flat, obtuse or apiculate ; stipules very short. Flowers 

 crowded in the axils, pedicels shorter than the perianth or none. 

 Sepals broad, 2 outer acute. Nutlets T * T in. Sangor (Jerdon). 

 DISTRIB. : Common in Central and S. India, also in the Bombay 

 Pres., extending to Africa and Australia. Watt E. I).; Cooke Fl. 

 Bomb, ii, 513. P. indicum, Heyne. 



VAE. 6. BREVIFOLIA. Rootstock woody ; branches stout, often 1-2 ft. 

 long, dark- brown, grooved ; internodes of branchlets very short, 

 concealed by the leaves and stipules which latter show as a continuous 

 White vUlous band on the underside of the branchlets. Leaves J-J in. 

 long, obovate, acute or apiculate, flat, coriaceous, dark-brown when 

 dry. Flowers sessile, almost concealed by the stipules. Sepals 

 narrow, outer acute. Nutlets T V-iV in. Abundant within the area 

 in dry places. DISTRIB. : Bengal to Garhwal and W. India, also in 

 Burma and extending to Africa. Prain Beng. PI. 886 ; Cooke Fl. 

 Bomb, ii, 514. A short form with crowded leaves ; allied to indica, 

 and differing from Griffithii by its stout habit and narrower longer 

 leaves which are less covered by the stipules. 



VAR. 7. GRIFFITHII. Branches excessively numerous from the root,, 

 very slender flexuous and quite naked below ; branchlets with the 

 internodes so close that they look woolly from the crowded and fim- 

 briate stipules. Leaves shorter than the almost nerveless stipules, 

 orbicular or broadly obovate, flat, apiculate. Flowers minute, sub- 

 sessile, hidden amongst the stipules. Sepak rounded, the 2 outer 

 apiculate. N. W. India (Falc.) ; abundant in the Jumna and Chambal 

 ravines of Agra and Etawah (Duthie), and in Bundelkhand (Duthie) 

 and Saugor (Jerdon). This very distinct-looking plant is considered 

 by Hooker to be probably a modified form of brevifolia with the 

 bases of the branches buried in soil and hence almost leafless and very 

 slender. 



2. P. orientate, Linn. Sp. PL 362 ; F. B. /. v, 30 ; Collett FL 

 Siml 421 ; Prain Beng. PL 886 ; Gage in Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind. ii, 

 386 ; P. pilosum, Roxb. FL Ind. ii, 286. 



A tall erect branching annual, 3-10 ft. high, usually softly pubescent or 

 silkily villous ; stems robust, grooved, branches hollow. Leaves 6-9 

 in. long, ovate or ovate-cordate, acuminate ; petioles 1-4 in. long, 

 stipules short, truncate, hirsute, ciliate at the mouth, expanded or 



