SAND-BINDING PLANTS OF MADRAS. 53 



bel, are carried by the wind to the female flowers, whicli are fascicled 

 on a distant plant, and being light and spherical, the Dutch call them 

 "Wini-h^]l'' (JFinddoll). 



Euraphins, in the Herb. Araboinense, alludes to this plant as being 

 connected with a superstition among the natives, who, seeing the capi- 

 tula carried along the shore by the sea-breeze, think they are propelled 

 by the devil. 



Ipomcea Pes-caprce of Sweet. — Goats^-foot-leaved Ipomma (also known 

 as Eabbit-weed). — Perennial, creeping to a great extent. Stems root- 

 ing at distant intervals. Leaves smooth, long-petioled, two-lobed like 

 those of Batihinia. Flowers large, reddish-purple, very handsome. — 

 Common on the sandy beach, north and south of Madras, where it is 

 of great use in binding the loose sand. This fine creeper is equally 

 abundant on both peninsulas, and is also a native of Mauritius, Macao, 

 etc., occupying the place of Convolvulus Soldanella oi the Scottish coast. 

 Eabbits, goats, and horses eat it, so do cows, but their milk is tainted, 



llydropTiylax maritima, Linn. — Seaside Hydrophylax, — A straggling, 

 herbaceous plant, native of the shore of Coromandel, where it shows* 

 its pale pink blossoms a great part of the year. The branches run over 

 the sand (sometimes under the surface), and strike root at the joints, 



Figured in Eoxb. Cor. t. 233. 



MicrorTiyncm sarmentosus^ Wight. — A widely diffused, humble plant, 

 common all along the sea-beach, with long, flagelliform runners. It is 

 well figured in Wight's Illustrations, vol. ii. t. 133. 



Pupalia orhiculata^ Wight. — Stem prostrate. Leaves orbicular. — An 

 extensively spreading, procumbent plant, of which the runners occa- 

 sionally measure 3 or 4 feet. It is abundant at St. Thome and the 

 mouth of the Adyar Eiver. — Figured in Wight's Icones (?). 



Pandanus odoratisshmis, Linn. {Kaldera Bush). — A large, spreading, 

 ramous shrub, fringes the coast in many places, and is often planted in 

 belts, but it takes up much room, forms dense thickets, and harbours 

 venomous reptiles. This is a very strong binder, but is objectionable 

 from its raising sand-hills, which interrupt the currents of sea-breeze 

 to the island. 



Ehretia arenaria, Griffith, which is found between 12° and 28*' north 

 latitude {vide Notute ad Plantas Asiaticas, Part IV. p. 212), appears to 

 be widely distributed along the sea-coast, and binds together the loose 

 sand, althoudi in a minor degree. 



