146 MalvaceCS. \\Vissadiila. 



considerably larger in fruit, deeply divided into ovate-triangu- 

 lar, long, acuminate segm.; ripe carp. 10-15, scarcely exceed- 

 ing enlarged cal., coherent, hairy on the back, splitting down 

 whole length, beak short, triangular, acute, horizontal ; seeds 

 4-5, slightly hair)'. 



Waste, ground in the low country ; common, especially in the dry 

 districts. Fl. March-July ; yellow becoming pink when withering. 

 All the Tropics. 

 I do not notice any scent in the Ceylon plant. 



5. A. crispum, G. Do?2, Gen. Hist. i. 502 (1831). 



Thw. Enum. 401. C. P. 3646. 



Fl. B. Ind. i. 328 (not given for Ceylon). Wight, Ic. t. 68. 



A large annual herb, branches with spreading hair ; 1. 

 2^-3-, in., ovate, cordate, acute, crenate-serrate, pubescent 

 above, softly hairy beneath, petioles I5-2 in., hairy, stip. 

 setaceous, hairy ; fl. small, about i in., ped. f in., very slender, 

 jointed about the middle ; cal. segm. lanceolate, acute ; ripe 

 carp, about 12, forming a globose fruit, papery, with a few 

 long hairs on back, without beaks. 



Moist low country ; very rare. Only collected near Colombo in Aug., 

 1859, by W. Ferguson, and possibly an introduced casual. 



Occurs in S. India, and commonly in Trop. and Sub-trop. America. 



3. WISSADUXiA,-^ Medt/c. 



Fl. in large panicles, otherwise as in Ab7itilo?i. — Sp. 



about 6. 



Based on habit merely, this genus can scarcely be considered distinct 

 from Abidilon. 



3. W. zeylanica, Medik. Malv. 25 (1787). Kiri-kaju, S. 



Herm. Mus. 31. Burm. Thes. 2. Fl. Zeyl. n. 251. Sida pcriploci- 

 folia, L. Sp. PI. 684 ; Moon Cat. 50. W. pe7-ipIocifolia, Thw. Enum. 27. 

 C. P. 1 132. 



Fl. B. Ind. i. 325 ( W. rostrata). Dill. Hort. Elth. i. t. 3 (cult, from 

 Ceylon seed). 



Semi-shrubby, 3-4 ft., erect, much-branched above, more 

 or less covered with stellate tomentum ; 1. 2^-3^ in., deltoid- 



* From the Sinhalese name ' Wisaduli,' which has been very variously 

 applied. Hermann (in Par. Bat. Prod. 309) gives it for this; but in Mus. 

 Zeyl. 1 1 refers it to Knoxia zcylanica., which also represents it in his 

 Herbarium. But at p. 42 of Mus. he applies the name to some parasitic or 

 epiphytic plant, and Moon (Cat. 60) gives it to Cymbidiu/n dico/or. I find 

 the name in use still, but for tlie little prostrate weed, Cctitipcda 07-bkulayis 

 (q. v.). ' Wisa ' = poison, and Hermann explains it as meaning the pain 

 and inflammation caused by the bite of the cobra ; * duli ' is a very fine 

 powder. 



