Menispermum. dioecia hexanouia. 817 



Tdinrf. Tiga-nuisliadee. 



A laroe, t^^ iiiing-, woody slirul), found in most parts of 

 tlie coast of Coromandel, and in Bengal, I hough not abun- 

 dantly. It grows chiefly in hedges, and in places overrun 

 with bushes. It flowers most part of the year. 



Stem woody, twining to a great extent. Bark ash-colour- 

 ed. Leaves alternate, petioled, cordate, pointed, smooth, 

 shining, and frequently scolloped, about five inches long, 

 and three broad. Racemes axillary, erect, in the male fre- 

 quently compound, in the female simple, erect, bearing but 

 few flowers. Bractes minute, caducous. Floivers small, 

 yellow. Male. Ca/i/x nine-leaved ; the three exterior ones 

 small. Petals six, obcordate, clawed, about the size of the 

 calyx. Filaments six, subulate, erect, alternately shorter, 

 of the length of the corol. Anthers oval. Female. Calyx 

 and corol as in the male. Germs superior, about twelve in a 

 circle, each ending in a short, subulate style. Stiymas simple. 

 Drupes or berries many, short-pedicelled, ovate, smooth, red, 

 about the size of a French bean. JSTut one, or two-celled. 



Birds eat the berries. Cattle eat no part of it. 



This is the third sort of Mashadee of the Telingas. 



The first is Mushadee, J^ux vomica tree. The second is 

 JSTaga Mushadee, or snake wood tree, both already describ- 

 ed ; the root of this sort is also used for the cure of the bites 

 of venomous snakes. It is rubbed between two stones, and 

 given as a drink, mixed with water. However, the natives 

 themselves confess they have very little opinion of its virtues. 



13. M. heteroclitum, R. 



Shrubby, twining. Leaves cordate. Male flowers pani- 

 cled, monadelphous. Calyx two-leaved, corol six-petalled. 



A native of the Circars. 



Stem thick, woody, twining or climbing. Bark cracked, 

 ash-coloured. Leaves alternate, petioled, cordate, entire, 

 above smooth, of a deep shining green, whitish below, three or 

 five-nerved, from four to six inches each way, with many small 



VOL. III. 4Y 



