Asclepias. pentandria digynia. 33 



small, smooth. Calyx ^\\c-c[c^i\ segments xo\\nAe<\. Corol 

 perfectly rotate, most slightly contorted ; segments ovate, 

 speckled with ferruginous marks, on a pale yellow 

 ground. Nectarium very short, the five exterior lamina 

 of its five divisions obversely crescent-shaped. Follicles 

 large, linear-oblong, obtuse, smooth. Seeds ovate, thin 

 membrane-margiued. Coma large. Integument single, a 

 rather thick, light brown. Perisperm conform to the seed, 

 thin, white. Embryo straight, inverse. Cotyledons cord- 

 ate, thin, five-nerved, large and nearly dividing the peris- 

 perm into two. Radicles clavate, pointing to the coma, 

 which points to the apex of the follicle. 



5. A. asthmatica. Willd. 1. 1270. 



Leaves petioled, long-cordate, downy underneath. 

 Umbels axillary, compound. Calycine. Segment s.ensi- 

 form. 



Beng. C/nta-mool. 



Teling. Kaka-palla. 



This is a perennial, twining species ; it is common al- 

 most everywhere, and delights most in a light sandy soil. 

 It flowers during the cold season. 



AVliat is A. alixicaca of Jacquin. See Willd. 1. 1270? 

 I suspect it is the same or a variety. We have one varie- 

 ty in the Botanic Garden at Calcutta w ith the young 

 shoot peduncles and petioles tinged with red. Root of 

 many, long, thick, whitish, or light ash-coloured, fleshy 

 fibres, issuing from a small, hard, ligneous head. Stems 

 several, twining, slender, round, from 6 to 12 feet long ; 

 young parts downy. Leaves opposite, petioled, linear, 

 cordate-ovate ; those near the extremities are narrower, 

 all are entire ; above smooth ; below downy ; from two 

 to three inches long. Petioles about half an inch long, 

 channelled. Umbels solitary, axillary, and alternate, 

 generally compound. Peduncles, and pedicels twice the 

 length of the petioles, round, downy. Involucres lanceo- 



