NEILGHERRY PLANTS. AT 
CEROPEGIA. 
Calyx 5-parted. Corolla tubular, more or less ventricose at the base, funnel-shaped ; lobes of the limb 
compressed, strap-shaped, erect, often curved and cohering at the apex, not seldom ciliolate, valvate in 
zstivation. Staminal crown in a double series, campanulate or rotate, 5-10—15-lobed, the lobe opposite, 
the anther, usually the longest ligulate, often approximated at the apex. Anthers simple atthe apex, desti- 
tute of membrane. Pollen masses erect, roundish, pellucid on the inner margin. Stigma flat. Follicles 
cylindrical, smooth, of parchment-like texture. Seed comose.—Twining shrubs or herbs, roots usually 
bulbous, stems woody or succulent, leafless or, oftener, foliaceous: leaves often more or less succulent, 
flowers umbellate, greenish-white, mottled with purplish or violet spots, more rarely uniformly yellowish. 
—Decaisne, slightly altered. P 
Of this genus, Decaisne characterizes 38 species, 21 of which are natives of India and the Eastern 
Islands. To these I have since added 7 species, raising the number to 28, and my herbarium still contains 
some unpublished species ; so that it seems not improbable, the number of Indian species, now in herbaria, 
exceeds the total number known to him. They are curious plants, especially as regards the reproductive 
apparatus, which is situated at the bottom of a long tube, and completely secluded from external influences, 
of a character suited to displace the pollen masses from the sacks of the anthers. This is accomplished 
by insects which can easily enter in search of the honey secreted at the bottom, but once in, they cannot 
return till the flower fades, owing to the tube being lined with stiff hairs directed inwards and down- 
wards, like the wires of a mouse trap. Thus imprisoned, the restless little creature is made the medium 
of bringing about fertilization, which could not otherwise take place; after which the flower fades, the 
hairs lose their rigidity and collapse, liberating the little prisoner to repeat the operation in another flower. 
Several of the species of this genus so closely resemble each other that it is occasionally difficult 
to distinguish them by their more obvious external marks. In such cases I have had recourse to the 
staminal crown which varies in different species, but is most constant in each. The value of this “ 
for the discrimination of species, will be seen by comparing those of the four here given. The following 
brief description of that portion of the organization may be useful towards explaining the mode of apply- 
ing its variations to the determination of species. 
The staminal crown, when present, in this order, consists of 5 pieces, attached to the stamens and 
alternate with the lobes of the corolla, ia it. appears to consist of a double series; the inner, of 
5 pieces in the usual place, opposite or attached to te’ filaments ; the outer, 10-lobed, or two lobes to each 
lobe of the interior. The inner series is generally much longer than the outer, but sometimes they are 
nearly equal, as in C. elegans ; and then they are united by pairs to the inner one, and divided from each 
other. In other cases, the outer is much shorter than the other, with the lobes united for about half their 
length to each other, and free from the inner, as in C. pusilla ; a third form is where the lobes of the 
outer are united nearly their whole length, strap-like, merely slightly cleft at the apex, asin C. Decaisneana ; 
and in the fourth, C. ciliata, they are short, very broad, semicircular, and notched or emargmate. Other 
forms occur where the outer series seems wanting, having altogether coalesced with the inner. With 
the aid of these variations, the species are easily sub-divided into groups, which greatly facilitates their 
determination, as it is rare that similar looking, but distinct, species coincide in presenting both externa 
and internal marks so nearly alike, as to leave it doubtful whether or not they are varieties of the same 
species, a common occurrence in other very natural genera. 
April. An extensively twining, somewhat succulent 
Ceropeata Decatsneana (R. W.), twinin lab- 
aca \ ) Fe shrub, leaves from 6 to 8 inches long, about 1 broad ; 
rous: leayes lanceolate, acuminate at both ends. 
acute, hispid above, from short scattered rigid hairs, 
glabrous beneath 6-flowered 
h purp 
ilgherries, on 
Malabar, 
corolla nearly 3 inches long, about 4 of which forms 
the dilated base ; secondary lobes of the crown yel- 
low, tipped with purple without, deep purple within : 
follicles long and slender, not much thicker than 
whip cord. 
Crropeera pusitta(W. and A.), herbaceous, glab- 
rous, er s high: root tuberous: leaves 
lin flowers axi 
rect: ¢ ; 
cfhdtical, longer than the lobes of the limb: ex- 
