Cuscuta-I ConvolvitlacecE. 229 



embryo without cotyledons, coiled in flesh}^ endosperm. — 

 Sp. 80; y m Fl. B. Ind. 



Style I, very short, stigmas large, oblong-linear . . i. C. reflexa. 

 Styles 2, stigmas small, globose 2. C. chinensis. 



I. C reflexa, Roxb. Coram. PL ii. 3 (1798). 



Thw. Enum. 213. C. P. 1922. 



Fl. 15. Ind. iv. 226. Hook. Exotic Fl. t. 150. Bot. Mag. t. 6566. 



Stems very long, stout, closely twining, branched, glabrous, 

 succulent and brittle, pale greenish-yellow, sometimes dotted 

 with red ; fl. on short, glabrous, curved ped., solitary or in 

 umbellate clusters of 2-4, or in short racemes, bracts short, 

 fleshy; sep. broadly oval, obtuse, glabrous, fleshy; cor.-tube 

 over \ in., campanulate or urceolate, lobes very short, trian- 

 gular, acute ; scales almost at base of cor.-tube, obovate-oblong, 

 incurved tomentose ; fil. very short ; style solitary, short, 

 stigmas 2, oblong, capsule rather over \ in., depressed-globose, 

 apiculate, glabrous; seeds usually 2, rather large, glabrous, 

 dull black. 



Upper montane zone, rather common ; parasitic, especially on species 

 of Strobilanthes in the forests. Fl. December ; white, scented. 



Apparently throughout India and Malaya. 



It is remarkable that this is entirely a high montane plant in Ceylon. 

 The figure in ' Exotic Flora ' shows a much larger and differently shaped 

 corolla. 



C. chinensis, Lam. Enc. Meth. ii. 229 (1786). Agra-mula-n^ti- 

 wel, S. 



C. reflexa, Moon Cat. 12 (non Roxb.). Thw. Enum. 213. C. P. 611. 

 Fl. B. Ind. iv. 227. Wight, Ic. t. lyj-^ (from a Ceylon specimen). 



Stems very slender, closely twining, much branched, 

 forming a tangled mass ; fl. sessile or on very short ped., 

 solitary or in little heads of 2-4 ; sep. connate into a cal, 

 segm, triangular, subacute; cor. campanulate, lobes lanceolate, 

 acute, spreading, scales at throat of cor. just below stam., 

 ciliate; fil. rather long, exserted ; styles 2, rather long, stigmas 

 capitate ; capsule dry, divided into 2 lobes by a deep furrow 

 on top, hyaline; seeds small, slightly rough, black. 



Moist low country; very rare. Only found about Colombo, parasitic 

 on grass and low herbs and shrubs. Fl. Nov., Dec; white. 



Tropical and warm Asia and Australia, usually a seashore plant. 



