Htdbocotyle.] UMBULLIFJEE^. 391 



3. H. asiatica, itnn.; Boxh.; Fl. Ind. ii, 88; W. 4' A. Prod. 368; 

 D. 4' G. Bcnnh. Fl. 105 ; F, B. I. ii, 669 ; Watt. E. D.— Asiatic Penny- wort. 



Leaves |-2f in., long-petioled, reniform or orbicular, crenate and often 

 - loLed, glabrous or nearly so and shining; .'^h'pifZes adnate to petioles. 

 PeduncLes much shorter than the leaves, often 2-3-nate, pubescent ; 

 hmcts small, ovate, embracing the flowers, not scattered among the 

 pedicels as in the two preceding species. Flowers 3-6 in each head, 

 sessile. Petals minute, ovate, acute, slightly imbricate. Fruit |-i in.; 

 carpels oblong, subcylindric, curved, much longer than broad, slightly 

 compressed, reticulate-rngose, each with 9 ciirvilinear subsimilar ridges 

 and 2 within the commissure • yericarjp thickened, woody, white. 



Common within the area. Disteib. Throughout India from the base of 

 the Himalaya to Ceylon and ITalaya, and in all tropical and subtropical 

 regions of the world. The plant is valued medicinally as a beneficial 

 remedy in certain forms of leprosy, and the leaves are eaten in times of 

 scarcity. 



2. BUPLEURUM, Linn. ; FL Brit. Ind. ii, 674. 



Glabrous lierbs or shrubs. Leaves entire. Umbels compound ; 

 bracts and hractcoles foliaceous, or setaceous, or 0. Floioe) s yellow 

 or lurid, pedieelled or subsessile. Calyjc-teeth 0. Petals obovate, 

 c mai'ginate. iStyles short. i^'rwiY laterally compressed, sliglitly con- 

 stricted at the commissure ; carpels terete or sub-5-gonal ; primary 

 ridges distinct, sometimes subalate, rarely obscure ; secondary or 

 obscure ; vittcB 1-3 between the primary ridges, rarely or manv ; 

 carpophore entire 2-fid. or 2-partite. j^i-sk depressed, rarely promin' 

 ent in fruit. Seed terete, sometimes slightly grooved on the inner 

 face. — Species upwards of 75, in Europe, temp, and subtrop. Asia ; 1 

 S. African, and i Arctic American. 



Leaves 4-10 in. long, all linear and 

 acuminate . . . , . 1. B. falcatum var. -marginata. 



Leaves 1-3 in. long, obtuse, the 

 lower linear, the upper linear- 

 oblong . . . , 2. B. tenue. 



1. B. falcatum, Linn.; var, marginata, F. B. I. ii, 676 ; Watt E. D. 

 B. marginatum, Wall. 



Stems erect, 1-4 ft. Leaves linear, slightly broader upwards : canline ^j am- 

 plexicaul or sessile, not widened at base, acuminate, margins prominently 

 cartilaginous. Bracts small or ; bracteoles 4-5, n£i.rrow-lanc3olate, 

 shorter than the fruiting umbel. Bays 5-S, 1| in. ; pedicels 5-15, very 

 short. FruAt i-^ in., brown when ripe ; carpels terete, narrowly oblong ; 

 ridges not prominent, furrows 3-vittate ; dis^c yellow or brownish, not 

 prominent. 



