Dioscorea. ] D ioscoveacecs, 277 



glabrous, about ^V~tV i"- broad ; bract small, ovate, acuminate, 

 membranous ; outer perianth-segm. broadly ovate or orbicular, 

 concave, inner smaller, obovate ; stam. 6, fil. short, anth. 

 didymous ; pistillode obscure ; fl. fem. distant on axillary, 

 pendulous, tomentose spikes 6-8 in. long, bracts minute ; 

 perianth-segm. orbicular, glabrous or pubescent ; staminodes 

 6, minute ; stigmas linear, 2-fid; fr. orbicular or broader than 

 long, \\-2\ in. diam., glabrous, top retuse or almost 2-lobed, 

 base cuneate, carpels i-circular ; seeds orbicular, \-\\ in. diam , 

 wing very broad all round. 



Low country; very common. FI. Aug., Sept.; pale-greenish. 

 Also in India and Burma. 

 Roots eaten in times of famine. 



4. I>. intermedia, Thw. Enuin. 326 (1864). C. P. 2870, 3022. 

 Fl. B. Ind. vi. 297. 



Root-tubers unknown; stem very slender, terete, unarmed, 

 quite glabrous, not tuberiferous ; 1. opp., rarely alt, 3-4 by 

 2 in., from linear-lanceolate to oval or oblong, acuminate, 

 mucronate or caudate, glabrous on both surfaces, 3-veined, 

 base cuneate, rounded, truncate or cordate, margin with a 

 very slender cartilaginous margin, petiole |-i in.; male 

 spikes i-i^ in., very slender, in axillary clusters, or clustered 

 or whorled on a filiform, glabrous, flexuous rhachis; fl. 3V in. 

 broad, sessile by a broad base, bract minute; perianth.-segm. 

 nearly orbicular; stam. 6, fil. very short, anth. didymous; 

 pistillode obscure; fem. fl. not seen; fr. i-i\ in. diam., trans- 

 versely oblong, base cuneate, tip retuse, carpels ^-circular; 

 seeds broadly winged all round. 



Lowcountry, especially in intermediate region; rather common. Kukul 

 Korale (Thwaites) ; Haragama; Mehamahanuwara ; between Negombo 

 and Kurunegala; Puttalam. Fl. July, December; greenish-yellow. 



Endemic. 



I doubt this being anything but a state of D. oppositifolia with glabrous 

 inflorescence. One sheet of Thwaites, C. P. 3022 in Herb. Peraden., has 

 very narrow 1. 2-3 by \~\ in., gradually narrowed to the tip, rounded or 

 retuse at the base, and petiole \ in. It looks very different from others 

 under the same number, and from 2870. It is in fruit only. — J. D. H. 



5. D. spicata, Roth, Nov. Sp. PI. 371 (1821). Gon-ala, S. 

 [Plate XCIIL] 



Thw. Enum. 326 (var. a only). C. P. 2871. 

 Fl. B. Ind. vi. 291. 



Root-tubers 2-3 ft. long by 2^ in. diam. or more, pale 

 brown ; stem very long, up to 20 ft. very slender, sparingly 

 prickly, glabrous, green, mottled with brown, not tuberiferous ; 

 1. alt, 2-10 in. long, polymorphous, from linear-oblong or 

 -lanceolate to oval, obovate, or orbicular, acute, acuminate, 



