Descr. An extensive climber, with the young éranches terete 
glabrous. Petioles scarcely two inches long, surrounded at their 
base by a perfoliate stipule. Leaves rather large, cordate, acute, 
with the sinus shallow and broad, so that the outlme approaches 
to reniform, five-nerved and reticulated with transverse veins, 
somewhat glaucous beneath, glabrous on both sides. Peduncle 
axillary pendent, having a perfoliate bractea below the middle, and 
gradually enlarging above into the clavate, angled, ovary. Peri- 
anth very large, 9-10 inches long, if the curvature of the tube is 
taken into consideration. The tube is cream-white, tinged with 
green; the lower (pendent) half is oblong, inflated, obscurely 
veined, three-angled at the back, and having two pairs of oval 
depressions or glands at the base ; the tube thence becomes con- 
- tracted, bent like a syphon, then enlarging and becoming ex- 
cessively inflated on one (the anterior) side; again it becomes 
contracted, and at once expands into the ample, singularly con- 
cave, almost conchiform limb, reticulated with ves, prominent 
on the outside, where it is cream-coloured, mottled with pale 
purple ; within, it is white or nearly so, but the veins are purple 
and the areole sprinkled with purple: the margin is waved, 
and is split down at the anterior edge: the apex is tipped with 
an apiculus or short tail scarcely an inch long. Within, towards 
the mouth of the tube, the colour is much deeper and of a more 
uniform purple. Co/wma of stamens an oblong fleshy body, with 
six incurved teeth and as many linear anthers. 
Fig. 1. Column of stamens of which the apex forms the stigma :—natural size. 
