388 LXIV. EL^AGNE^. \Jlippopliae. 



Outer and middle Himalaya. Sutlej valley up to Ohini. Baspa valley (Shoang, 

 Sangla). 5000 to 10,000 ft. Kamaon, Nepal, Sikkim (7000-10,000 ft.) Probably 

 also on the Bias river, and in the lower Ghenab and Jhelam valley. Fl. June, 

 July ; fr. Sept., Oct. Attains 20 ft. Hardy in England. 



2. H. rhamnoides, Linn. ; Hook. Stud. Fl. 323. — Syn. H. tibetana, 

 Schlechtendal in Linnsea, xxxii. 296. Vein. Tsarapp, tsarma,- tsar- 

 mang, sirma, tsuk, tarru, nieehak, tserkar, Ladak, Piti, and Lahoul. 

 Regarding tlie following names it is uncertain whether they relate to this 

 or to the preceding species : Kula Vis, hantphunt, ami, kanda, milech, 

 Pb. ; Dhur chick, tdrwd, chuk, chuma, N.W.P. 



A large thorny shrub, sometimes a small tree. Leaves subcoriaceous, 

 J-2 in. long, linear-lanceolate or ohlanceolate, narrowed into short petiole, 

 edges flat or revolute, branchlets and under side of leaves densely clothed 

 with silvery or rust-coloured circular, irregularly indented scales, hut not 

 pubescent ; upper side of leaves with a few scales when young, glabrous 

 and dull green afterwards. Fruit fleshy, orange or hright scarlet when 

 ripe, seed dark brown, nearly hlack, shining, obovoid, slightly compressed, 

 less than ^ in. long, with a deep longitudinal furrow on one and a slightly 

 depressed line on the other side. The specimens from the inner Himalaya, 

 Tibet, Afghanistan, and Central Asia are silvery, whereas the European 

 shrub has often ferruginous, mixed with silvery scales, and this character 

 does not furnish any distinction between H. tibetana and rhamnoides. 

 In the seeds I can discover no difference. 



Afghanistan, Inner arid tract of the N.W. Himalaya, chiefly in the moist gra- 

 velly stream-beds (Lahoul, Ladak, Piti, upper Kunawar, inner Kamaon, Tibet), 

 between 7000 and 12,000 ft., found as high as 15,000 ft. at Darma Yankti in 

 Tibet (E. Strachey and Winterbottom). Beyond India, in Central Asia, and 

 in Europe, where it is abundant in the shingly and gravelly valleys of the Alps 

 and Apennines, along the Rhine (as far as Strasburg), and on other rivers 

 descending from these mountains, and common in many places on the coast of 

 the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the German Ocean, and the Baltic. Cultivated 

 for ornament in Europe, and (as a fruit-tree) at Kabul. Fl. and fr. May-Nov. 

 The geographical limits of these two species demand farther inquiry on j;he 

 spot. In the upper Sutlej valley Dr Stewart and I collected specimens (in 1864) 

 of H. salicifolia as far up as Chini, and of rhamnoides as low down as Elba, 

 below the mouth of the Tidong river, and the specimens collected in the arid 

 region of the upper Sutlej, Chenab and Indus valleys, and on their tributaries, 

 all belong to H. rhamnoides. Dr Stewart regarded both as one species, and it 

 remains for future observers to determine whether there are intermediate forms, 

 and whether (which is quite possible) If. salicifolia is identical with the Euro- 

 pean and Central Asiatic plant, modified by the influence of a moister climate, 

 and less severe cold in winter. I do not attach much value to the difierent shapes 

 of the seeds, discussed in detail by Schlechtendal (1. c. 295), for I find that there 

 is considerable variation in this respect ; but the stellate hairs (with 6-9 distinct 

 arms) of salicifolia, are completely difi^erent from the flat circular, irregularly 

 indented scales of rhamnoides, composed of numerous elongated cells radiating 

 from a dark centre. It should, however, be borne in mind, that scales and stel- 

 late hairs difi'er in degree only ; and it will be an interesting inquiry to trace 

 intermediate stages, if there are any, and to indicate the connection of the struc- 

 ture of this fine tomentum with the difference in the climatic conditions. At 

 present I had no alternative but to keep the two forms apart as distinct species. 



