Oxysh'ima?\ AscUpiadece. 147 



with very divaricate branches, rusty-pubescent; cal. densely 

 rufous-hairy, lobes oblong, obtuse or acute; cor.-lobes narrowly 

 strap-shaped, obtuse, twice as long as tube, much recurved; 

 follicles not seen, '3-7 in., slightly curved, glabrous; seeds \ in., 

 ovate, scarcely beaked.' 



Low country, up to 3000 ft., but chiefly in the dry region ; rather rare. 

 Bintenne District ; Kekirawa, N.C. Prov. ; Hangurankette ; Maturata ; 

 Galle (Champion). Fl. Nov.-March ; yellowish-green, brown outside ; 

 sweet-scented. 



Also in S. India. 



Variable in foliage ; the narrow leaves are usually quite glabrous 

 beneath. 



5. OXYSTEZ.MA, Br. 



Perennial twiner, 1. narrow, fl. large, cymes racemose, lax ; 

 cal.-segm. 5, very deep, cor. shallowly campanulate, lobes 

 broadly triangular, ovate, subacute, ciliate, valvate below, the 

 tips imbricate, corolline corona annular, truncate; column 

 large, stam. 5, fil. connate, short, anth. with connective pro- 

 duced into an inflexed membranous tip, pollen-masses i in 

 each cell, pendulous, staminal corona of 5 processes which 

 are large, broad and inflated at base, tapering to a sharp 

 point, exceeding anth, and curved over stigma; stigma large, 

 flat-topped ; follicles divaricate, narrowly ovoid, compressed, 

 slightly winged on edges ; seed ovate, compressed, coma long. 

 — Sp. 4; I in Fl. B. Ind. 



O. esculentuzn,'^ Br. in Mem. Wern. Soc. i. 40 (181 1). Kulap- 

 palai, T. 



Periploca esculenta, L. f. Suppl. PI. 168. Moon Cat. 20. Thw. 

 Enum. 196. C. P. 2837. 



Fl. B. Ind. iv. 17. Hook. Comp. Bot. Mag. ii. t. 22. Roxb. Cor. 

 PI. t. I.I {Periploca). 



A perennial herb, roots fibrous, from the lower nodes, 

 stems numerous, long, much branched, slender, twining, quite 

 glabrous; 1. 2-3 in., lanceolate-linear, rounded at base, tapering 

 to very acute apex, glabrous, thin, pale green, venation pellucid, 

 petiole I in., slender; fl. large, drooping, on long slender ped., 

 which are thickened upwards, cyme from between the petioles, 

 3- or 5-fld,, lax, racemose, long-stalked, much exceeding 1., 

 bracts minute; cal.-segm. lanceolate, acute, glabrous, thin; 

 cor. f-i in. diam., lobes rather shallow, ovate-triangular; 

 column prominent, fil. very broad ; follicles 2| in., somewhat 

 falcate, a little inflated, smooth (one often abortive). 



* Koenig states that it is eaten. 



