.416 ASCLEPIADE^. 



terior scale, linear-acuminate, as long as the narrow part of the corolla-tube ; corolla yel- 

 low : campanulate part of the tube thrice as long as its cylindrical base, little longer than its 

 broadly ovate lobes ; anthers devoid of a terminal appendage, slightly hairy or glabrescent 

 on the back ; follicles cylindrical, incurved, striate : seeds much longer than the short naked 

 part of their beak.— SI. t. 130./. 2. Jacq. Amer. Pict. t. 33.— Urechites, J. Mull.— Pro- 

 portions of the flower as in the preceding, but growth said to be lower and more erect. — 

 Hab. Jamaica ! {Jacq.), at Kingston ; [Cuba !, Haiti]. 



46. E. jamaicensis, Gr. Branchlets climbing, pilose or glabrescent ; leaves cordate- 

 ovate or ovate-oblong, glabrescent, pointleted or pointed, shortly petioled ; cymes corymbi- 

 form; calyx-segments devoid of an interior scale, lanceolate-acuminate from an ovate base, 

 one-third to one-fourth as long as the narrow part of the corolla-tube ; corolla yellow : cam- 

 panulate part of the tube thrice as long as its cylindrical base, twice as long as the broad 

 lobe3 ; anthers devoid of a terminal appendage, slightly hairy on the back above ; follicles 

 cylindrical, acuminate, slightly torulose, slender, straightish, substriate : seeds much longer 

 than the short naked part of their beak. — E. domingensis, Sw. (non Jacq.) : compared in 

 Herb. Bks. by Dr. Alexander, but Swartz in his description apparently confounded it with 

 E. neriandra.— Leaves 2"-l", calyx l"'-2"', narrow part of the corolla 4"'-5'", campanu- 

 late part about 1", anthers 2'", follicles 5"-8", seeds (without the beak) 3'" long ; corolla 

 glabrescent, internally hispid below the stamens. — Hab. Bahamas !, Swains. ; Jamaica !, 

 Macf., Al., Lane, Pd., March, Manchester, S. Marys, among shrubs along the coast ; [Cuba !, 

 Haiti!]. 



E. barbata, Desv. (Haiti !, S. Thomas !), is an allied species (calyx-segments pilose, lanceo- 

 late-acuminate, exceeding the narrow part of the corolla-tube, anthers densely pubescent on 

 the back) : from its variable leaves it might be E. domingensis, A. DC, but has broader 

 calyx-segments than E. domingensis, Jacq. (Ic. Rar. t. 53) : E. suberecta, Desc. (Fl. 7- t. 

 468), said to grow in Jamaica, is perhaps a synonym of E. barbata. 



17. ODONTADENIA, Benth. 



Character of Echites, but disk many-lobed, urceolate, and follicles " oblong " (Benth.) : 

 "seeds comose " (Duchass.). — Climbers; leaf-veins costale, secondary ones transverse ; 

 cymes axillary, corymbiform ; corolla large, yellow : tube infundibular ; anthers corneous, 

 hastate, longitudinally pubescent on the back. 



47. O. speciosa, Benth. ! Glabrous ; leaves elliptical-oblong, pointleted ; calyx-seg- 

 ments broadly ovate, blunt or bluntish ; infundibular part of the corolla separated by a 

 stricture from its ovoid much shorter base, little longer than the broad lobes ; anthers 

 sericeous-pilose on the back. — Bot. Mag. t. 4825.- 1 — Echites grandiflora, Mey. ! (Hsemadie- 

 tyon, A. DC). Dipladenia Harrisii, Hook. .'—Leaves 8"-6", calyx 3'", corolla-tube 2"-l£" 

 long. — Hab. Trinidad !, Pd., in savannahs, near the swamps of Nariva and on the upper 

 Coroni ; [Costarica, Panama !, Guiana !, equat. Brazil]. 



48. O. nitida, J. 3 full. Glabrous ; leaves oblong, minutely cordate at the base, 

 shining above, glabrescent beneath ; calyx-segments ovate-oblong, bluntish ; infundibular 

 part of the corolla narrow, thrice as long as the cylindrical base, about twice as long as 

 the lobes; anthers pubescent on the back. — Vahl, Eclog. t. 13. — Echites, V. O. cordata, 

 A. DC— Leaves 4"-3", calyx l£"'-3"', corolla-tube 1V'-1" long.— Hab. Trinidad!, Lane, 

 Lockh., Cr., Pitch Lake, La Brea ; [Guiana 1, equat. Brazil !]. 



CX. ASCLEPIADEiE. 



Character of Apocynece, but pollen compound, usually forming wax-like masses (the pol- 

 linaria), which, having a glandular appendage, are connected with the stigma by 5 projec- 

 tions of the latter. — Inflorescence tisua/ly umbellate ; stamens mostly connected : pollinaria 

 in the West Indian genera 10, the two contiguous ones of adjacent anthers united by a 

 common gland ; anthers terminated by a membrane, and inflorescence extra-axillary. 



The properties are the same as in Apocynea . Asclepias affords a diaphoretic medicine 

 (Bastard Ipecacuanha). 



The East Indian Cryptottegia grandiflora, R. Br. (India-rubber Vine), occurs in Mr. 



