DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW AND RARE INDIAN PLANTS. 87 
which the staminodes are only slightly longer than the stamens. In 7. europaeus the staminodes 
appear always to be a little shorter than the stamens; they are also more distinctly obovate. 
After all it may be better to fall back on Linnwus’ way of distinguishing T. europaeus from 
T. asiaticus by the sepals being connivent in the former and patulous or spreading in the latter, 
although it must be confessed that this method has its difficulties. НереГв T. dskungaricus will 
then have to be separated again from T. europaeus. Its affinities are perhaps more with T. larus. 
The character by whch T. altaicus is separated from T. asiaticus is hardly of sufficient weight to 
prevent its being considered a subspecies of the latter. 
Of how little importance the relative length of ovary and style as a diagnostic character may be, is 
exhibited by fig. 5 g to k, all of which are from Siberian and doubtlessly good specimens of T. asiaticus; 
compare, for instance, й with k. This has an important bearing on 7. acaulis as a species of the 
first order. Here the pistil has very commonly the shape depicted in fig. 5, e; but in a specimen, 
for instance, irom Phalallarü іп the Nila valley the pistil is exactly like 5, 6, which represents 
the pistil of Т. americunus Mühlb. from North America. Although the majority of specimens of T. 
acaulis are similar to those described and figured by Lindley in tho Botanical Register of 1842 and 
1843, the name has become singularly inappropriate, since leafy specimens as much as half a meter 
in height have been gathered in the North-West Himalaya. As a rule the Siberian forms of T. larus 
have the blade of the staminodes linear-ob'ong (see fig. 8, A), whilst in 7. araulis they are usually 
obovate or obovate-oblong {see 8, 4, e, f, g); butin the American varieties of Т. Zırus, the nectariferous 
staminodes are like those of acaulis. As a matter of fact, 7. acaulis is connected with T. larus by 
a series of intermediate forms, especially from Gilgit, some of which are hardly distinguishable from the 
true T. lazus. That Т. patulus and T. caucasicus are nothing but varieties of T. darus is pretty 
generally admitted. 
Much importance should not be attributed to the persistence or otherwise of the sepals; they 
are very commonly so in Т. pumilus, but the character is not a constant one; the sepals of 
T. acaulis are mostly deciduous, but specimens may be observel in whch the head of пре follicles 
is accompanied by marcescent sepals Тһе relative length of ovary and style is freely made use of 
by Ledebour, but the character is of little value, for we find the length of the style in terms of 
the length of the ovary to be in specimens of 7. asiaticus—z, 4, |» $. 
Remarkable is the close resemblance of 7. йасіниз to the typical Т. acaulis; the colour of the 
sepals of Т. ¿lacinus would hardly prevent its being united with T. larus, the more so as the 
sepals of Т. americanus are suffused with a pinkish hue on the outside, and in the variety alba from 
the Rocky Mountains they are white. The only character by which it is possible to distinguish 
T. clilacinus from all the other species of Trollius is the absence of glanlular рарШ on the pistils, a 
character which, however, is hardly of sufficient value to make it a subspecies as is done by Prantl. 
We would thus arrive at the following grouping of the various forms of Trosius:— 
I. Staminodes manifestly thickened at their upper edge, with long claws.—7. pumilus, Don. 
II. Staminodes quite petaloid, flat at their upper margin, with short claws. 
A. Sepals patulous or spreading :— ۱ 
a. Staminodes shorter or somewhat longer than the stamens, obovate or obovate-oblong. 
a. Carpels рарШове. Sepals yellow or white.-- T. laxus, Salisb. 
B. Carpels glabrous. Sepals lilae.— T. Z/acinus, Bunge. 
b. Staminodes mostly distinctly longer than the stamens, linear or linear oblanceolate 
or style of a different colour to the ovary.— T. asiaticus, Lin. 
В. Sepals connivent, staminodes usually somewhat shorter than the stamens.—T. europacus, 
I . ; 
We now pass оп to a more detailed description of the forms which constitute the species 7. pumilus. 
| Subspecies. | 
Subspecies I. ANEMONIFOLIUS, P. В.; stem sparsely folinte; blade of basal leaves 
trilobed to near the base, usually 3—5 em, long; the segments sub-distant; the middle 
Ayn. Roy. Bor. Gann. Caic., Vor. V. 
