322 D. Prain— Some additional Papaveraceae. [No. 3, 
The area occupied by Roemeria is the conjoined Mediterranean and Oriental 
regions so that only the merest fringe of their area comes within the limits of the 
Indian Empire. Like Papaver therefore Roemeria is not really an Indian 
genus. The nearest natural allies of its species are the prickly-capsuled members 
of Papaver § Rhoeades from which they only differ in having valves that dehisce 
throughout instead of by pores. By this character Roemeria approaches Cathcartia 
and that so closely that, as originally defined, Cathcartia differs only from Roemeria 
in having crested seeds and differently coloured flowers. A new Cathcartia from 
Sikkim, however, agrees with Roemeria in both characters ; but for the presence 
of a style, not admitted in the original definition, in the species of Cathcartia, that 
genus must have been merged in Roemeria from which it therefore only differs by 
the character that separates Meconopsis from Papaver. The place usually assigned 
to Roemeria in taxonomic works is close to Chelidonium and Glaucium; the arrange¬ 
ment is neither natural nor convenient. 
1. Roemeria hybrida I)G. Syst. Veg. ii. 92 (1821); leaves pinnati- 
fid to -sect; filaments subulate ; capsule uniformly patently setose. 
Var. eriocarpa DG. Syst. ii. 93 (1821) ; leaf segments oval 
oblong, flowers small. R. pinnatifida Boivin in Belang. Voy. Ic. t. 2 
(1838). R. orientalis Boiss. Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. ii. xvi. 371 (1841); Flor . 
Orient, i. 118 (1867). R. Schimperi Presl., Bot. Bemerh. 8 (1843). 
R. hybrida var. 8. S. f. 8f T. Flor. Ind. 257 (1855); Walp Ann. iv. 
174 (1857). 
North-West Prontier : British Belu chistan; Hamilton! Bute! 
Buthie ! Lace! Distrib. (of species) Westward to Spain: (of variety) 
Belucliistan, Afghanistan and Persia to Egypt. 
Flowers 1 in. in diam. Capsules 1-2 in. long more or less copiously setose alike 
on placental ribs and valves. The variety hardly differs from the typical R. hybrida, 
which in the true Mediterranean region is itself very variable, except iu the shape 
of the leaf segments and the smaller size of flowers and fruit. 
All the specimens from British territory belong to this variety, which Boissier 
and others treat as a species. If so dealt with it should however be noted that the 
oldest name is not Boissier’s one of R. orientalis, but Belanger’s one of R. pinnatificla. 
The oldest name for the species as a whole is R. violacea Medik [TJst. Ann. iii. 15 
(1792) ] but that employed by DeCandolle being in more general use I have continued 
its employment. 
2. Riemeria refracta DG. Syst. Veg. ii. 93 (1821) ; leaves 2-pin- 
natipartite segments linear; flowers large filaments dilated; capsule 
narrowed at tlie tip, glabrous. Delessert, Icon. Select, iii. t. 8 (1823) ; 
DG. Prodr. i. 122 (1824). R. rhoeadiflora Boiss. Diagn. ser. i. vi. 7 
(1845) ; Flor. Orient, i. 119 (1867). R. hybrida vars. /3. y. II. f. T . 
Flor. Ind. 257 (1855) ; Walp. Ann. iv. 174 (1857). 
North West Himalaya: Badakslian, Giles ! Distrib. Afghanistan, 
Belucliistan, Turkestan, Persia, Armenia. 
Flowers 2 in. in diam. Capsules 1-2 in. long, without setae on the valves, some¬ 
times with a few along the placental ribs. 
