51 
carnosa, columnaris, salvis apicibus coronæ inclusa. Corona STAMINEA simplex, erecta, 5-phylla, staminibus opposita ; foliola libera 
distincta, subulata (und? nomen generis derivatum), teretia, basi paròm contractá supra basin dorsi filamenti inserta, staminibus duplò 
longiora, indè levitér Bricos, apie teretia, vix conniventia, faucem corolla paullò superantia. FiLAMENTA 5, fundo corollæ inserta, 
distinota, magna, prismatica, basi utrinque dente brevi, 3-angulari, acuto notata, subsagittata, dorso sulcata, marginibus convexiusculis 
invicem contigua, intås ad latera concava, mellifera, medio carinà elevatå, crassiusculà, longitudinali, convexá pistillis lax? applicata. 
ÅNTHERÆ 5, parvee, carnose, membranaceo-marginatz, lateribus stigmatis applicatæ, semiorbiculatæ, intüs, a carina ista filamenti 
continuata in 2 divisæ locula concaviuscula. Porumis massa 10, magnæ, pendulæ, e viridi flavescentes, cereaceæ, læves, ovoideæ, ob- 
tusæ, margine respectu paris exteriore convexo, interiore subrecto, lateribus convexis, plano-ventricosis, basi intòs subarticulatim 39 
cruribus brevibus, divaricatis, clavatis retinaculorum 5 oblongorum, nitidorum, dorso sulco profundo exsculptorum, angulis stigmatis 
sulcatis incumbentium, inter antheras conspicuorum. Ovara cylindraceo-oblonga, lævia, latere interiore planiusculo parallela, attenuata 
in stylum brevem, teretem. Sricma magnum, carnosum, depresso-pentagonum, vertice convexum et nudum. FoLLicuLus magnus, 
solitarius, oblongus, coriaceus, lævis, dependens, dorso convexus, ventre planiusculus, apicem obtusam versus parùm attenuatus, 6-polli- 
caris. Semina valdè numerosa, plana, ferruginea, ovata, lævia, membranaceo-marginulata, vix semiunguicularia, umbilico acutiusculo 
coronata comá denså, prælongå, sericeå. 
This fine shrub is the largest-flowered Asclepiadea with which I am acquainted, and I have found it peculiarly 
adapted to afford a clear and complete insight into the organization and economy of that difficult family, so beauti- 
fully developed by Mr. Brown. If the analysis instituted by that illustrious botanist be repeated in a flower of our 
plant, even long before the corolla has become visible beyond the calyx, the pollen-masses will be found quite consoli- 
dated into a distinct form within the respective cells of their anthers. Soon afterwards the processes of the retinacles 
extend to the masses through the upper part of the anthers, which has now burst open. The stamens are epipetalous, 
and quite distinct and free; their inner concave side is divided into two lateral cells containing a sweet mucous fluid, 
by means of a vertical broadish ridge, which rests on the pistils. In Sarcolobus the stamens are strictly gynandrous, 
the anthers being sessile and attached to the base of the stigma; and this structure exists probably also in some other 
genera. 
I cannot reconcile this shrub with the characters of any of the genera belonging to the family, although it seems 
to come very near to Kanahia, Br., as I have already pointed out. Dr. Roxburgh, in his manuscript account of our 
plant, which he calls Asclepias pulchella, observes that Rheede's figure of Adakodien would be a tolerably correct 
representation of it if the fascicles of flowers were long-peduncled. “That plant, however, has long ago been formed 
by Mr. Brown into a most remarkable genus, very different from ours, and called by him Holostemma. “The indivi- 
duals of. Rhaphistemma pulchellum which Y found in Pegu, and which were collected in Tavoy by W. Gomez, differ in 
no respect from the Hindustan plant, except in haviig a pale purple broadish stripe running down the middle of each 
division of the corolla, and sometimes extending in small specks down the tube and even over the calyx. 
I am acquainted with two species of Holostemma, namely : 
1. H. Rheedii Spreng., foliis lato-ovatis, cordatis.—Cynanchum cordifolium vel grandiflorum ? Herb. Russel. Cynan- 
chum annulare, et Asclepias convolvulacea, Herb. Heyn. A. annularis Heyn. Herb. Wight. Gomphocarpus ? volubilis, 
Herb. Hamilt. Asclepias annularia, Roxb. Hort. Beng. p. 20. 
Habitat in Malabaria, Rheede; peninsula Indie, Russell, Heyne, et Wight; Coromandelia, Roxburgh ; Gualpara, 
Hamilton. 
In Dr. Hamilton's valuable. manuscript Catalogue of a. collection of dried specimens presented to the Honourable East 
India Company's Museum, Rheede's and Roxburgh's plant is quoted with a doubt. He says that the Hindus call the 
shrub Bara Dudhiya. i NA ^ Gn å 
9. H. fragrans, foliis oblongo-cordatis, summis oblongo-lanceolatis, basi cordato-subsagittatis, lobis subimbricantibus. 
Crescit in montosis ripæ Irawaddi ad Scendya et Prome, etiam in monte Taong Dong haud procul ab oppido 
Avæs florens Septembre—Novembre. ] 
This plant differs from the first species in having much, narrower and proportionally longer leaves: in other 
respects they are much alike. It abounds in milk. The flowers are large and beautiful, delightfully fragrant, and of 
a thick, fleshy structure: four or five are produced from a short peduncle, inserted on one side of the axil, and 
supported on longish, white, dotted pedicels. Calyx very small, under the broad retuse base of the corolla, divided 
into five ovate, obtuse, ciliate lobes. Corolla cup-shaped, white, with purple minute spots; lobes deeply separated 
from each other, ovate-oblong, obtuse, convex, and almost gibbous above, wrinkled and concave underneath. Column 
five-keeled, naked, except at the very base, which is surrounded by a thick, fleshy, 
alternating with the corners of the column. Anthers ovate, 
Pollen-masses very long, flat, cuneate, hanging down 
which are attached to the corners of the 
of fructification white, sharply 
annular ring, which is slightly marked with five lobes, 
obtuse, membranous, covering the five-cornered stigma. | | 
perpendicularly from the black, capillary, appendices of the retinacles, 
stigma in a very oblique, almost horizontal position. 
Plate CLXIII. Fig. 1. Flower, two of the calycine lobes removed. : 2. Column of fructification. 3. The same enlarged, pa the 
divisions of the corona but one removed. 4. A detached stamen, with its division of the corona. 5. Pollen-masses and retinacle. 
6. Follicle. 7. Seed. 
