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A CENSUS OF THE INDIAN POLYGONUMS. 
INTRODUCTION, 
This paper is an expansion of notes made by the writer 
during an examination of the Indian Polygonums in the Calcutta 
Herbarium, undertaken at the request of Major Prain, Superin- 
tendent of the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta. The notes were 
originally put together under the idea of their being likely to be of 
use to workers in the Calcutta Herbarium. It has been thought, 
however, that they might prove of service to botanists in India 
generally, who may not have an opportunity of personally consulting the 
Calcutta Herbarium, and accordingly it has been decided to give them 
a wider publicity than a pigeon-hole in the Calcutta Herbarium Poly- 
gonum cabinet affords. The limits of the channel of publication have 
restricted the scope of the paper to little beyond a mere list of the 
species, with their localities, but so far as it goes, the paper gives as 
complete a distributional survey of the genus in India as the material 
in the Calcutta Herbarium permits. 
The paper consists of three parts : — ist, a list of Indian species, 
inclusive of all those described in the Flora of British India, whether 
they are represented in the Calcutta Herbarium or not, with their 
localities and altitudes, whenever given ; 2nd, an artificial key to all 
the species and the more important varieties mentioned in the list; 
3rd, a few notes on the distribution of the Indian species. 
In the first part, localities, altitudes and ticket numbers have been 
quoted as fully as possible and for several reasons.* Firstly, that those 
who may possess any unnamed or, at least according to this list, 
misidentified duplicates of the sheets quoted, may, if they choose, name 
or correct according to this list. Secondly, that if any worker 
finds occasion to differ from the writer as to the naming of any particular 
sheet or sheets, he or she may, with better opportunities than the 
writer — ^who, it is to be recollected, has had under study only the Calcutta 
Herbarium sheets and at the last moment a rapid survey of the 
Shaharanpur Herbarium sheets, consider and dispose of the question- 
Thirdly, that irrespective of names altogether, there may be as 
little doubt as possible, where there is access to a representative 
Herbarium, as to what are the plants to which the writer refers. 
Lastly, to make it possible to plot out, on blank maps of India, the 
distribution of any species with as great precision as the information 
supplied by collectors has made possible. 
it is to be regretted that this information is not always by any means 
so complete as it might be. A fair percentage of the Calcutta sheets have 
not been quoted either because the tickets bear nothing beyond such 
