Dioscorea?^ DioSCOVeaceCB . 275 



and imbricate, or narrow and subvalvate, incurved or spread- 

 ing ; stam. 6 (3 sometimes imperfect or o), inserted at the base 

 of the segm., round a more or less developed pistillode, fil. 

 short, anth. oblong or globose, dehiscence lateral ; fern. fl. : — 

 perianth superior, as in the male ; staminodes 3 or 6 ; ov. 

 trigonous, 3-celled, cells 2-ovuled, style short or o, stigmas 3, 

 spreading, linear, entire, or bifid ; fr. a 3-celled, 3-winged, 

 loculicidal capsule, dehiscing through the wings (or a berry 

 with oblong seeds in Trichopiis) ; seeds flat, variously broadly 

 winged, embryo small, included in a hard endosperm. 



Tall climber i. Dioscorea. 



Stem short, erect 2. Trichopus. 



I. DIOSCOREA, Linn. 



For characters, see Order. — Sp. very many; 25 in FL B. 

 Ind. 



L. 3-5-foliolate. 



L. softly tomentose beneath . . . . i. D. tomentosa. 

 L. glabrous, or sparsely hairy beneath . . 2. D. pentaphylla. 

 X. simple. 



Perianth-segm. broadly ovate or orbicular. 

 L. opp. 

 Rhachis of spike pubescent . . . 3. D. oppositifolia. 

 Rhachis of spike glabrous . . . . 4. D. intermedia. 



L. alt 5. D. spicata. 



Perianth-segm. narrow 6. D. SATIVA. 



I. D. tomentosa, Heyne in Roth, Nov. PL Sp. yji (1821). 

 Vyala, 6^. 



Thw. Enum. 326. C. P. 2304. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 289. Wight, Ic. t. 815. 



Root-tubers 1-2 ft. long ; stem prickly towards the base 

 and sometimes on the branches and petioles, tomentose, not 

 tuberiferous ; 1. alt., 3-5-foliolate, glabrous above, clothed 

 beneath with white tomentum, petiole 3-4 in., leaflets 2-4 in., 

 shortly petiolulate, obtuse, acute or cuspidate, lateral dimi- 

 diate-ovate, 3-pliveined, median oval or obovate; male racemes 

 ^-i in., very slender, usually 3-nate on the rhachis and 

 branches of a very slender, flexuous, tomentose panicle 

 10-15 in. long; bracts broad, ovate, cucullate, upper as long 

 as the fl.; perianth about ^^ in. diam,, outer segm. tomentose, 

 broadly ovate, obtuse, inner narrower, more glabrous; stam. 3, 

 nearly as long as the segm., staminodes 3, as long as the stam., 

 tips dilated; pistillode columnar; fert. fl. in axillary pendulous, 

 tomentose racemes 10-16 in. long ; ov. about \ in. long; per.- 

 segm. rather larger than in the male, outer nearly orbicular, 



