Dioscorea. DIOECIA HEXANDRIA, _ 803 
wv 
10. D. angnina. R. 
Tubers cylindric. Stems twining, round, villous. Leaves 
opposite and alternate, cordate, fiv epervedas Male spikes 
crowded, pendulous, 
Beng. Kookoor aloo, 
This species I have found in its wild state in woods about 
Calcutta. Flowering time the close of the rains. 
Tubers columnar, in a looser soil perpendicular, in a hard 
one variously bent. Stems and branches twining up and over 
trees and bushes, perfectly round, and covered with short soft 
‘down. Leaves opposite and alternate, petioled, exactly cor- 
date, entire, five-nerved, with many transverse veins between 
them, from four to six inches long, and from three to five 
broad. Female spikes axillary, erect, long, simple or com- 
pound, villous, with remote, small, green, villous flowers, 
Calyz as in the genus, 
The root is not much esteemed, though eaten by the poor 
when hard pressed for food. In shape it agrees with that of 
Rumphius’s Ubium oe vol. v. t. 122. bat the leaves 
differ much, : 
11. D. nummularia, Willd. iv. 792. 0 
Tubers ligneous, irregular, Stems twining, perospial, 
prickly towards the base. Leaves opposite, biacmens 
nerved, very smooth on both sides, 
Hind, and Beng. Shora-aloo, 
This species I took for D. opposittifolia for some time, kek 
on finding some old plants with the stems ligneous, and arm- 
ed with numerous, sharp prickles, | was convinced it must 
be a very different species. It is a native of the forests about 
Caleutta, Flowering time the close of the rains. pe hes 
Root tuberous, but small, and hidden by nuinerous 1s stropg 
fibres, Stem many fathoms long, twining, with the lower part 
ligneous and prickly, the rest round, and very smooth. Leaves 
toward the base of the stem alternate, all the rest opposite, 
petioled, cordate, five-nerved, very smooth on both sides, 
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