Tab. 5704. 



EAPHISTEMMA ciliatum. 



Ciliated Raphistemma. 



Nat. Ord. Asclepiade^e. — Gynandria Pentanmhua. 



Gan. Char. Calyx alte 5-fidus. Corolla campanulata v. rotato-campanu- 

 lata, limbo 5-fido. Gynostegium tubo inclusum. Corona staminea 5-phylla, 

 foliolis gynostegium duplo superantibus exsertis compressis apice inflexis. 

 Aniherce membratia terminate ; pollinia clavata v. ovato-rotundata, sub 

 apice affixa, pendula. Stigma obscure 5-gonum. Tolliculi saepius abortu 

 solitarii, subventricosi. Semina comosa. — Frutices Indici v. Moluccani, 

 cauln tenui voluhili. Folia co?'data, supra petiolum glandulifera . Flores 

 albi, corymbosi. 



Eaphistemma ciliatum ; laxe pilosum, foliis late ovato-cordatis acuminatis 

 siuu prof undo clauso, pedunculis elongatis pendulis, pedicellis filifor- 

 mibus, calycis lobis parvis acutis, corolla? tubo brevissimo, lobis paten- 

 tibus ovatis acutis longe ciliatis. 



A pretty, delicate climber, bearing a profusion of white 

 blossoms, the fringed edges of whose corollas have a very 

 beautiful appearance. The seeds were sent from Penang by 

 the Honourable Colonel Man to the Royal Gardens through 

 Mrs. Courtenay Bell, of Kew, and flowered in October, 1867. 



Of the genus Raphistemma only two species have hitherto 

 been described, one a native of continental India, and the other 

 of Java, and from both which the present differ in its pilose 

 stems, very slender pedicels, short corolla-tube, and its fringed 

 lobes. 



Descr. Stem slender, twining, covered with spreading or 

 refiexed hairs. Leaves on slender petioles, ovate-cordate, acu- 

 minate, deeply two-lobed and auricled at the base, the sinus 

 closed by the almost overlapping auricles, two inches long 

 by an inch and three-quarters broad. Peduncles axillary, 

 pendulous and ascending, two to four inches long, bearing 

 an interrupted corymb of flowers; pedicels filiform, almost 

 capillary, an inch and a half long, reddish below the middle. 

 Flowers half an inch to three-quarters of an inch in diame- 

 ter, pale greenish-yellow, faintly rose-coloured towards the 



APRIL 1st, 1868. 



