276 Dioscoreacec€. [Dwscorea. 



inner smaller ; staminodcs 3, minute ; style short, stigmas 

 spreading, tips dilated, emarginate ; fr. i in. long, cuneately 

 oblong, truncate, tomentose, valves polished within ; seeds 

 \ in, long, obovate-oblong, wing terminal, as long as the 

 nucleus and broader. 



Moist region to 2000 ft.; common. Fl. yellowish-white. 

 Also in Peninsular India. 

 Roots eaten. 



2. D. pentaphylla, L. Sp. PI. 1032 (17153). ILatawala, S. 

 AUai, T. 



Fl. Zeyl. n. 363. Moon, Cat. 69. Thw. Enum. 325. C. P. 2869. 

 Fl. B. Ind. vi. 289. Rheede, Hort. Mai. vii. t. 35. Wight, Ic. t. 814. 



Root-tubers 5-6 ft. long; stem slender, glabrous, more or 

 less prickly, especially towards the base, often tuberiferous in 

 the 1. axils; 1. alt., 3-5-foliolate, glabrous or sparsely pubescent 

 beneath, petiole 1-4 in., leaflets 2-6 in., shortly petiolulate, 

 oval obovate or lanceolate, acuminate, cuspidate or sub- 

 caudate, membranous, base acute, lateral oblique at the base ; 

 male fl. in very slender racemes |-i| in. long, which are 

 solitary or bin ate on a very slender flexuous tomentose 

 rhachis 6-12 in. long; bracts very broad, apiculate, mem- 

 branous, much shorter than . the fl.; perianth about ^j in. 

 diam., segm. glabrous or sparsely pubescent, broadly ovate, 

 obtuse; stam. 3, anth. subsessile, staminodcs 3, minute; 

 pistillode 3-lobed; fem. fl. in axillary, flexuous, pendulous, 

 tomentose spikes 2-6 in. long; perianth-segm. broader than 

 in the male; staminodcs 3, minute; stigmas spreading, linear ; 

 fr. 4-1 in. long, quadrately oblong, retuse at both ends, 

 glabrous; seeds ^ in. long, wing terminal, longer and broader 

 than the short oblique nucleus. 



Moist low country; very common. Fl. Aug. ; pale-greenish, fragrant. 



There is a good drawing of this in Hermann's collection, but no 

 specimen. Roots eaten in times of famine. 



3. I>. oppositifolia, L. Sp. PI. 1033 (1753). Hiritala, S. 



Herm. Mus. 31. Fl. Zeyl. n. 361. Moon, Cat. 69. Thw. Enum. 326. 

 C. P. 2303. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 292. Wight, Ic. t. 813. 



Rootstock short, with many long cylindric tortuous root.'- 

 as thick as a swan's quill ; stem slender, unarmed, not tuberife- 

 rous, terete, pubescent or tomcnto.sc; 1. opp. rarely alt., 3-5 b} 

 1-3 in., polymorphous, from lanceolate to oblong-oval or 

 orbicular, obtusely acuminate or rounded at both ends, 

 coriaceous, 3-5-veined, margins cartilaginous, sparsely hairy 

 on both surfaces, petiole \-\ in.; male spikes |-^ in., alt. oi 

 whorlcd on a long filiform tomentose pendulous rhachi.^ 

 4-10 in. long; fl. crowded, sessile b)' a broad base, ncarl)- 



