beautifulflowers032840mbp

148 BEAUTIFUL FLOWEKS OF KASHMIE [Plate 85
or sheathing. Perianth 3 -cleft ;
lobes equal or unequal.
Stamen usually 1 (rarely 2) in Indian specimens. Stigmas 2-3.
Nut rather longer than the perianth.
Locality. Alpine region, in marshy places, 12,000-14,000 ft.
Distribution. Alpine W. Himalaya, from Kashmir to
Kumaon, arctic and subarctic regions, Altai Mts.
Polygonum lapathifolium,
Linn. Dock-leafed Knotweed.
(Lcvpathifolium means having leaves resembling those of
Rumex nemolapathum, a species of Dock.)
An erect or prostrate annual, 1-3 ft. high, rooting below
branched, smooth or glandular, usually pale green, nodes
thickened ; stems often tinged with red. Leaves almost
stalkless, elliptic-egg-shaped or lance-shaped, glandular beneath.
Stipules usually shortly ciliate, lower ones loose, not fringed,
the upper shortly fringed. Eacemes erect or nodding, dense
or rather lax, cylindrical, terminal or lateral. Flower-stalks
rough. Bracts ciliate. Perianth greenish, glandular, rough,
nerves strong. Stamens usually 6, anthers not protruding.
Styles free. Nut flattened at the sides.
Locality. Up to 5,000 ft.
Distribution. N.W. Frontier to Bengal, ascending to 5,000 ft.
on the Himalaya, Assam, Burma.
Polygonum minus, Huds.
Small Persicaria.
A slender, erect or ascending, sometimes creeping, hairless,
annual herb, 6-18 in. long, much-branched or simple. Leaves
stalkless, linear- or oblong-lance-shaped, usually under 2 in.
long. Stipules i-i in. long, close, not inflated, ciliate, cilia
much shorter than the tube, glandless. Eacemes filiform,
i-1 in. long, erect or ascending, loose, straight, solitary, on
slender stalks, greenish pink. Bracts close, Flowers very
small. Outer perianth -segments glandular at the base only.
Nut round, plano-convex or 3-angled, flattened, polished, as
long as the outer perianth.
Locality. Up to 6,000 ft.
Distribution. Kashmir to Assam and Chittagong, southward
to Travancore and Ceylon, temperate and tropical Asia,
Europe.