Plants of the Punjab. 



651 



LEAFLESS PLANTS. 

 Herbs. 



Petals united. 



Balanophora 

 involucrata^ 



BALANOPHORAOBiB. 



P. B. I. vi. 237. 

 Himalaya, 

 6,000 ft. 

 Kotgarli, Simla 

 Hills (Thomson) 

 (Collett). 



Asparagus filicinus, 



Alii palli^ satzarra. 



LlLIACE^. 



F. B. L vi. 314. 

 Himalaya, 

 4-7,000 ft. 

 Mashobra (Collett). 

 Kashmir. 

 Nathia^alli. 



smooth, fleshy, fmigus-like, leafless, parasitic on the 

 roots of trees, rootstock tuberous, 3-4 lq. diam. warted 

 flower stems 1-6 in. long burst from the rootsto'ck which 

 forms a sheathed ring at the base, on the stem about the 

 middle a ring of 2-4 scales (mvolucre) contam yellow 

 or red flower heads or cones, flowers minute, interspers- 

 ed with club-shaped cellular bodies (bracteoles), male 

 flower consists of a tube (calyx) of 3 united lobes 

 sunk in the head, stamens 3, united in a column, 

 female flowers consist of a round flattened ovary narrowed 

 mto a slender style, sometimes clustered round a bracteole ; 

 fruit minute, brittle, seed round. 



rootstock perennial, stout, creeping, stems annual, 

 erect, zigzag, hollow, much branched, smooth, unarmed 

 leafless, minute scales in their axils, tufts of 2-5 flattened 

 curved branchlets (cladodes) |-^ in. ; flowers —ir-- in., 

 white, drooping, single or in pairs, stalks | in., very slender, 

 jointed about the middle, calyx bell-shaped, 6-parted, 

 stamens 6, at the base of the calyx lobes, ovary 3-angled, 

 3-celled, style 1, stigmas 3 ; berry | m. diam., round, red, 

 seeds 2-6. The root is used as a tonic and astringent. 



Asparagus gracilis, 



LlLIACE^. 



F. B. I. vi. 315. 



The Plains to 



6,000 ft. 



Valleys below Simla 



(Collett). 



Rawalpindi. 



Baluchistan. 



Uke the last species, but prickly on the lower branches, 

 cladodes straight, stiff, flowers | in., calyx-segm«uts spread- 

 ing. 



Asparagus 

 racemosus, 



Satawar, shakakul, 



LlLIACE^. 



F. B. L vi. 316. 



The Plains to 



4,000 ft. 



Valleys below Simla 



(Collett). 



Below Fagu. 



hke the last species, but stems chmbing, prickles ^ in., 

 curved, round, spreading, flowers in racemes, 1-4 in, fang. 

 This plant is 'used as a demulcent, diuretic, alterative and 

 antidysenteric. 



