BY THE REV, J. E. TENISON-WOODS, F.G.S., &C 77^ 



flowers. "Very common in Java, but in all the cultivated lands 

 of India and the Archipelago, including Burmah. It is especially 

 common in fields that are lying fallow, but it is also cultivated for 

 medicinal pui'poses. It yields the Mudar root (Radix mudaris 

 gigantece), to which many medicinal qualities have been attributed, 

 the sum of which seems to be this, that the root contains about 

 11 per cent, of an extracted bitter principle called Mudarine, 

 which excites vomiting, and hence it has been used as a substitute 

 for ipecacuanha. Mudarine has the extraordinary property of 

 gelatinising when heated, and returning to the fluid state when 

 cool. The fibre of the stem is valued, and the down of the seeds 

 is usefully mingled with cotton in spinning. The plant is highly 

 esteemed throughout all the various nationalities of the East. 



148. AscLEPiAS CURASSAVICA, L. A quite recently introduced 

 plant from S. America, which is as common in Australia as it is 

 in India. It extends through South China to Japan, where it is 

 called To-wata, or cotton. 



149. Gymnema syringifolium, Benth. and Hook. A twiner ; 

 the genus has a wide range in tropical Asia, though this species I 

 never collected except on the volcano of Taal. 



150. Tylophora tenuis, Blume. Batuk-manuk, Sundanese. 

 The genus is like the last in its characters, and is noted for 

 possessing the Ceylon Binooga or T. asthmatica, the roots of 

 which seem to have all the qualities of ipecacuanha besides being 

 good for asthma. I have collected this species in Perak, Java and 

 the Philippines, generally on the edges of jungles in the plains. 



151. DiscHiDiA NUMMULARIA, R. Brown. Duduitan, Sunda- 

 nese ; Daun-ringit, Malay. This interesting little plant is 

 parasitic on the trunks of large trees, and having small disc-like 

 fleshy leaves, in pairs, has a very ornamental appearance as it 

 hangs in festoons from branches in the jungle. Common every- 

 where in the Archipelago and extending to Australia. 



152. HoYA CUMINGIANA, Decaisne. A .species of the well- 

 known wax plant. My dried specimens ai*e very imperfect, and 

 I am not at all sui-e of the species. 



