Aremria.] xviii. caryophylle^. (Edgeworth & Hook, f.) 241 



J-J in., very pale when dry, tip acute rather cartilaginous, m^irgins not thickened, mid- 

 rib very obscure. Isomer 4-| in. diam. ; pedicel sbort, stout, ebracteate. hepals coria- 

 ceous. Petals apparently white. Seeds small, somewhat ear-shaped, pale, opaque, 

 nearly smooth. 



20. A. melandryoldes, Edg&w. ; glandular-pubescent, stems laxly- 

 tufted suberect, leaves lax obloug-elliptic or oblong-lanceolate obtuse coria- 

 ceous i'-nerved, flowers terminal solitary pedicelled nodding, calyx truncate 

 at the base, sepals erecto-recurved obtuse glandular much shorter than the 

 linear rose-coloured petals, capsule 4-6-valved exceeding the calyx. 



SiKKiM Himalaya, alt. 14-18,000 ft., J. D. H. 



Perennial ; roots slender fibrous. Stem 2-4 in. long, laxly fascicled, branched from the 

 base ; branches cylindric, erect or ascending, simple or sparingly divided, naked below. 

 Leaves \-% in., in rather distant pairs, sessile, dull green or puiplish, glandular on both 

 surfaces, almost fleshy. Flowers solitary, terminal, . rarely axillary, f-1 in. diam., 

 pedicel short and curved in flower, densely glandular, much elongated strict and erect 

 iu fruit. Calyx subcampanulate, thickened at the base ; sepals J in. long, narrow, 

 green, nurveless, margins not membranous. Petals very variable, sometimes | in. long, 

 tip rounded. Filaments slender. Disk-glands inconspicuous. Styles 2-3. Capside 

 ovoid, excHoding the calyx, 4- or 6-valved, membranous. Seeds large, irregularly 

 formed, testa pale spongy (young seeds orbicular and broadly winged). — A very curious 

 plant, with something of the habit of Stellaria cerastioides, very glandular, with pink or 

 purplish flowers. It unites this section with the following. The testa is very lax and 

 appears in the immature seed as a broad white wing around the undeveloped nucleus. 



, Sect. V. Xiepyrodiclls, Fend (gen.). Flaccid usually tall herbs. Leaves 

 broad, flat. Petals often arose or lacerate. Flowers cymose. Disk annular 

 or obsolete. Styles 2, rarely 3. Capsules 2-6-valved, membranous, 1-6-seeded. 

 Seeds with a thick, or tubercled testa.— This section is usually upheld as a 

 genus and described as having a distinct disk, 2-3-valved capsule, and only 

 2-4 seeds, but we find none of these characters to hold good. 



21. A. bolosteoides, Edgew. ; a tall slender flaccid glabrous or pube- 

 rulous much branched herb, leaves linear or linear-oblong from a broad 

 sessile cordate base acute or acuminate, cymes few-flowered, pedicels slender 

 divaricate, sepals obtuse and petals very variable, tip retuse not lacerate, 

 capsule 2-8-valved 1-6-seeded, seeds large tubercled. Lepyrodiclis holo- 

 steoidus, Fend in Ledeb. Fl. Ross. i. 359 ; Boiss. Fl. Orient, i. 686. Goufieia. 

 crassiuscula, Camb. in Jacq. Voy. Bot. t. 30. 



Western Temperate Himalaya and Western Tibet, from Kumaon to Kashmir, 

 alt. 7-12,000 rt., Jacguemont, &c. — Distrib. Affghanistan, Soongaria, and Westward 

 to Asia Minor. 



Whole plant glabrous or glandular-pubescent. Stem 2-3 ft.,_ much dichotomously 

 branched, shining and striate when dry. Leaoes 1-3 in., spreading, midrib and very 

 oblique nerves exceedingly slender. Cymes pedicelled. Flowers J-J in. diam., white, 

 nodding; pedicels J-^ in., ebracteate. Calyx not thickened at the base ; sepals from 

 linear-lanceolate to broadly ovate-oblong, green with membranous edges, glabrous or 

 very hairy and glandular at the back. Petals equalling or exceeding the sepals, linear- 

 spathulate or broadly obovate, notched or retuse. Filaments with broad flattened free 

 bases. Disk 0. Styles 2-3, filiform, elongate. Capsule subglobose, shorter than the 

 calyx, very membranous, variable in size, 2-6-Talved to the base. Seeds on tumid funi- 

 cles, variable in number and size, turgid, red brown or blackish, with concentric rows 

 of acute tubercles; cotyledons long flattened, radicle short. — We do not find the sub- 

 hypogynous gland described by Fenzl (in Ledebour, I.e.), nor any disk in this and the 

 two following species. A most variable plant, especially in the sepals petals capsule 

 and number of seeds. 



VOL.1. B 



