MoLLUGO.] FICOIDU^. 387 



A more or less densely hairy annual. Stems many, prostrate, spreading 

 from the centre. Leaves ^-1 in. long, opposite or falsely whorled, orbi- 

 cular ob ovate or narrowly lanceolate, obtuse, usually downy on both 

 surfaces, pet^'oZe short or ('. Floivers in axillary clusters, unequally 

 pedicelled. Sepals ^-f in., elliptic or oblong, acute, stellate-hairy out- 

 side. Staminodes linear and deeply 2-fid or C. Stamens 5-10, rarely 

 more. Styles 3-5, short. Capsule oblong, shorter than the sepals. 

 Seeds many, dark-brown, tuberculate, shinning ; appendage a email 

 white scale extending from the hilum into a long filiform process which 

 curves over the top of the seed. 



Oommon within the area. Disteib. Throughout India and in Ceylon, and 

 in all warm regions of the world. The dried plant is used medicinally 

 in Sind and in the Punjab, and the tender shoots are eaten as a potherb. 



2. M. oppositifolia, L*n«., M, Spergula, Linn.; W. 4" ^- Prod. 44; 

 F. B. I. ii, 662. M. verticillata, Boxb. Fl. hid. i, 360 {not of Linn.). Pharna- 

 ceum Mollugo, Linn.: Roxh.; Fl, Lnd. ii, 102. 



.Glabrous or nearly so, with branching diffuse or prostrate leafy stems 

 with long internodes Leaves ^-1 in., usually in whorls, sessile or 

 shortly stalked, spathulate lanceolate or elliptic, apiculate. Floujers 

 axillary ; pedicels very slender. Sepals oblong, subacute, often with 

 membranous margins. Stamens S ov b-10. Stiymas '3, minute. Caps ale 

 3-celled, oblong-ovoid, a little shorter than the sepals. Seeds many, 

 covered with raised tubercrJar points, appendaged as in M. hirta. 



Agra dist. (Munro), Distrib. Bengal and Cent, Prov. to Ceylon and 

 Burma ; also in Trop. Africa and Australia. 



3. M. pentaphylla, Linn.; Roxh. ; Fl. Lid. i, 359 ; W. 4' A. Prod. 44 ; 

 D. 4' G-. Bomh. FL 16. M. striata, Linn.; W. Sf A. I. c; D. Sf G. I. c.; F. B. 

 I. ii, 668 ; Watt E. D, M. triphylla. Lour. ; Roxh.; Fl. Lnd. i, 360 ; W. Sf 

 A. I. c. 



An erect or diffuse glabrous annual. Stems leafy, i-angular, dichotom- 

 ously branched. Leaves |-1^ in., nearly sessile, opposite or whorled, 

 lanceolate and acute to obovate and obtuse, apiciilate, much narrowed 

 to the base. Cymes terminal, compotind, longer than the leaves, pedicels 

 filiform. Sepals ^V iii-> elliptic or round-oval, obtuse. Stamens o-'^, 

 filaments dilated. Ovary 3-celled ; styles 3, short. Capsule as long as 

 the sepals, globose, many-seeded, walls thin. Seeds tuberculate dark 

 chestnut coloured. 



Very common within the area. Distrib. Throughout India and in 

 CeyloD, ascending to 5,000 ft. on the Himalaya; also in the Malay Penins., 

 China, Japan and Figi. '!'he plant has medicinal properties, and the 

 leaves are eaten as a potherb. 



4. M.Cerviana, Scringe; W. Sf A. Prod. 44; F. B. I. ii, 663; Watt E.D. 



A glabrous annual. Stems erect, slender, 3-7 in., thickened at the nodes, 

 branches umbellate. Leaves often 4-S in a whorl, ^-f in. ; radical tufted, 

 spathulate or obovate ; canline linear-oblong. Peduncles 3-chotomous or 

 umbellate-cymose ; pedicels long, filiform, rigid. Sepals J^ in., oval- 

 oblong, obtuse, with membranous margins. Styles very small. Capsule 



