Habitat: — Temperate and Alpine Himalaya, from Kashmir to Bhotan.
A small, aromatic shrub, young parts covered with glandular scales. Leaves 7/10-lin. long, approximate at the ends of branches, sessile or subsessile, obovate or obtuse, or lanceolate and subacute ; glabrous above, silvery or brown tomentose beneath. Flowers red, yellow or purple, solitary or 2-3 together ; pedicels ½-1½in. long, very scabrous. Calyx-lobes oval, not ciliate. Corolla-tube short; lobes round, spreading, 1/5-⅓in. long. Stamens usually 8. Ovary 5-celled. Capsule 5-celled, ⅓ by 1/5in. Seeds oblong, acute.
Use : — To it are attributed the same medicinal properties as to R. Anthopogon.
709. R. setosum, Don., h.f.b.l, iii. 472,
Vern. :-— Tsallu (Bhutia and Tibetan).
Habitat : — Sikkim and Nepal.
A small shrub, 1ft. Branchlets bristly. Leaves ½ by ¼in., elliptic obovate, obtuse, scaly on both surfaces and often bristly beneath. Pedicels ¼in., glandular, scaly, 3 8-clustered, short. Calyx-lobes 1/6-¼in.,by ⅛-1/6in. obtuse, glandular, scaly, elliptic. Corolla red, tube very short, 1/5in., lobes ½ by ¼in., oblong spreading. Stamens 8, sometimes 10 ; filaments hairy below. Ovary 5-celled, glandular, scaly. Capsule ¼ by 1/5in., ovoid, hardly larger than the Calyx-lobes. Seeds ellipsoid, subacute at the ends ; testa close, not produced.
Use : — " The Sikkim Bhutias and Tibetans attribute the oppression and headaches attending the crossing of the loftiest passes to the strongly resinous odour of this and R. anthopogon. A useful volatile oil, of no less marked character than that of the American gaultheria, might probably be obtained from the foliage by distillation" (Hooker).
710. R. Anthopogon, D. Don., h.f.b.l, iii. 472.
Vern. :— Nichni, rattankát, nera (Jhelum) ; Tazak-tsum ; Talis-far (Kashmir) ; Pálu (Bhutia).
Habitat : — Alpine Himalaya, from Kashmir to Bhotan.
