Plants of the Punjab. 



521 



Prostrate Herbs with Opposite Stipulate Simple Leaves. 



Petals ununited. 



Portulaca 

 quadrifida, 



Chounlayi, lunak, 

 Portulace^. 

 F. B. I. i. 247. 

 The Plains. 



annual, succulent, widely spreading, stems thread- 

 like, rooting at the joints; leaves -v-| in., ovate or ovate- 

 lanceolate, flat, very shortly stalked, very fleshy, stijiules 

 formed by a ring of long white haii'S ; flowers small, yellow, 

 solitary, terminal surrounded by a circle of 4 leaves, calyx 

 of 2 sepals united below,, free part soon falling off, em- 

 bracing lower half of ovary, petals 4, soon falhng 

 off, stamens about 8, style thread-hke, divided to the 

 middle into 4 ; capsule brittle, sphtting transversely, 

 seeds flattened, kidney-shaped, minutely studded. A 

 common weed. It is used as a pot herb and sometimes 

 cultivated, the flower opens only for 2 hours at midday. 



Zygophyllum 

 simplex, 



Alethi. 



Zygophyllace^. 



F. B. 1. i. 424. 



Southern Sandy 



Plauis. 



Multan (Edgeworth). 



Baluchistan 



(Hughes-Buller). 



annual, small, smooth, prostrate, slender, much branch- 

 ed ; leaves small, cylindric, fleshy, blunt, sessile, stipules 

 lanceolate, short-pointed ; flowers white or yellow with red 

 or purple spots at the base, 1 or 2 on short stalks 

 among the stipules, calyx 4-5-lobed, hooded, ovate with a 

 broad tip, persistent or deciduous, overlapping, petals 

 4-5-stalked, spoon-shaped, overlapping, twisted^ stamens 

 8-10, longer than the petals with a divided scale at the 

 base ; capsule 4-o-angled, 5 cells containing 2-3 spindle- 

 shaped smooth seeds, which are eaten by the nomad tribes 

 of the Punjab. 



Hedyotis hispida, 

 Hedyotis stipulata, 



RUBIACE^. 



F. B. I. iii. 68. 



Himalaya, 



east of the Ravi, 



3-8,000 ft. 



Valleys below 



Simla (Collett). 



Dalhousie. 



Oldenlandia 

 corymbosa, 



Petals united, 

 see Herbs, Erect, Opposite, Stipulate, Simple. 



perennial, widely spreading, smooth, stems 12-24 in., 

 rooting at the joints, cylindrical, smooth ; leaves |-2 in.. 

 ovate or lanceolate, thin, sbort-pointed, stalk ^-J in,, 

 stipules fringed deeply with long bristles ; flowers small, 

 white, in short stalks forming closely crowded sessile or 

 shortly stalked axillary or terminal clusters, |-J in. diam.; 

 calyx lobes 4, shortly pointed, persistent, lanceolate re- 

 curved, longer than the fruit, corolla funnel- or bell- 

 shaped, lobes 4, ovate or linear, stamens 4 in the (ubo or 

 throat of the corolla, style -thread-like, stigma 2-lobod ; 

 fruit thin, broadly globose, seeds mitny, small, angular, 

 pitted, 



see Herbs, Erect, Opposite, Stipulate, Simple, Entire, 



