128 GEBANIACEM. [Peganum* 



3, PEGANUM, Linn. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. i, 486. 



Branching glabrous or pubescent perennial-rooted herbs. Leaven 

 alternate, entire or multifid, not glandular ; stipules setaceous. 

 Flowers solitary, in subterminal leaf-opposed peduncles, white. 

 Sepals 4«5, persistent. Petals 4-5, subequal, imbricate. Stamens 

 12-15, inserted at the base of the disk, some antherless, filaments 

 dilated below ; anthers linear. Ovary globose, deeply 2-3-lobed ; 

 styles basal, twisted, 2-3-keeled above, the keels stigmatose ; ovules 

 many in each cell, inserted in the inner angle. Fruit globose, 3-4- 

 celled, dry and 3-valved or fleshy and indehiscent, cells many-seeded. 

 Seeds angled ; testa spongy, rough, albumen fleshy — Species 3 or 4, 

 inhabiting the Mediterranean area, W. Asia and Mexico. 



P. Harmala, Linn.8p. PI 444; W. 4- A. Prod. 146; Boyle III. 156; 

 D. ^ G. Bomh. Fl. 45 ; F. B. I. i, 4S6 ; Watt E. D. 124. Vern. Harmal. 



A hush-like glabrous herb, 1-3 ft. high. Stem dichotomously and corym- 

 bosely branched. Leai'es 2-3 in., multifid ; segments linear, acute. Floivers 

 i-f in. across, solitary in the axils of the branches, sessile or stalked, 

 white. Calyx-lohes linear, exceeding the corolla, persistent. Capsule 

 globose, depressd at the apex. 



Common in the drier portions of the area. Distrib, : Kashmir, Sindh, 

 Punjab plain, W. Deccan ; extending to Arabia, N. Africa and S. Europe, 

 The seeds yield a red dye, and various part of the plant are used medi- 

 cinally. 



XXVII.-GERANIACE.ffi. 



Herbs or undershrubs, rarely trees. Leaves opposite or alter- 

 nate, usually 2-stipulate. Ivfiorescence various. Flowers usually 

 showy, heimaphrodite, regular or irregular. Sepals 5, rarely 4 or 2, 

 free or united to the middle, usually imbricate, the posterior one 

 sometimes spurred. Petals usually 5, often apparently 3, rarely 0, 

 free or connate, equal or unequal, limbricate. Disk with 5 glands 

 alternating with the petals, or without glands. Stamens 5-15 ; 

 filaments often dilated below or connate into a ring. Ovary usually 

 of 3-5 carpels united with the axis which sometimes lengthens into 

 a beak ; styles free or united ; ovules 1-2 (rarely many) in each cell. 

 Fruit usually a 3-5-lobed capsule, loculicidal or septicidal ; lobes ]- 

 seeded, often separating from the axis when ripe. Seeds with or 

 without an aril, albumen scanty or 0. — Species about 800, found 

 chiefly in temperate climates. 



