1 26 ApocynacecB. \Rativolfia. 



1. R. serpentina, Hk.f.Fl. B. Ind. iii. 632 (1882). Eka-weriya, 

 Rat-^kawerlya, S. 



Herm. Mus. 4. Burm. Thes. 141. Fl. Zeyl. n. 398. Ophioxylon* 

 serpcntinum, L. Sp. PI. 1043. O. trifoliatum, Gaertn. Fruct. ii. 129. 

 Moon Cat. 19. Thw. Enum. 191. C. P. 1836. 



Fl. B. Ind. iii. 632. Burm. Thes. t. 64 (not good). Wight, Ic. t. 849. 



An herbaceous perennial, rootstock vertical, long, nodular, 

 yellowish, stem 1-2 ft., semi-woody at base, usually simple ; 

 1. spreading or drooping, 4 or 5 in., lanceolate, tapering at 

 both ends, undulate, glabrous, thin, bright light green, petiole 

 short, obscure ; fl. on short stout ped., in rather close irregular 

 corymbose cymes (rarely axillary) on long erect peduncles, 

 bracts small, filiform; cal. glabrous, segm. small, linear, acute; 

 cor.-tube \-\ in., dilated at insertion of stam., above this often 

 bent, lobes short, rounded; ripe carp, over \ in., slightly 

 connate, broadly ovoid, apiculate, shining, blackish-purple. 



Shady places in grass in moist region to 2000 ft.; common. Fl. April, 

 May ; white tinged with violet, cal. bright red. 



Also in India, Burma, and Java. 



Garciat (1. c.) calls the plant ' Rannetal,' and gives an account of the 

 use of the root by the Mungoose — which he calls ' Ouil' and ' Quirpele ' 

 — in its combats with the Cobra. The tale has no foundation in fact, nor 

 does the root appear to be now employed here as a remedy for snake- 

 bites, though it has a reputation against hydrophobia in native medicine. 

 It is very bitter. 



2. R. densiflora, Hk. f. Fl. B. Ind. iii. 633 (1882). 

 Ophioxylon uylatiicum, Wight, Ic. iv. pt. 2, i. O. densiflorum^ Thw. 



Enum. 191. C. P. 1834. 



Fl. B. Ind. iii. 633. Wight, Ic. t. T291 and 1292 {0. Jieiloherrense). 

 Bot. Reg. t. 1273 {Taber7tce7nontana densiflora). 



A small shrub, 2-4 ft, slightly branched, branches glabrous, 

 with large lenticels; 1. 3-5 in., lanceolate, tapering to base, 

 acuminate, acute, glabrous, thin, pale beneath, petiole obscure; 

 fl. on rather long slender ped., in lax few-flowered corymbose 

 cymes, peduncles several together, terminal, compressed, i-ii 

 in., lengthening with fruit; cal. -segm. linear, cor.-tube about 

 \ in., cylindrical, hairy within, lobes much more than half as 

 long as tube, oval, obtuse ; ripe carp. \-\ in., quite distinct, 

 ovoid, slightly pointed, bluish-grey. 



Montane zone up to 6000 ft.; common. Fl. Jan. -May ; white. 

 Also in the mountains of India. 



* Ophioxylon., snake- wood. Probably the source of one sort of the 

 Lignum colubrittum of Ceylon, a celebrated antidote to the poison of the 

 Cobra, of which an account will be found in Garcia de Orta's Aromat. 

 Hist. lib. i. cap. 44 (in Clusius' Exotic, 214). See also under Ophiorrhiza 

 Mungos and S/ryc/inos colubrina. 



t Garcia de Orta lived at Goa 1534-62, and it is possible he may have 

 vi,sited Ceylon. 



