278 Dioscoreacece. [Dioscorea. 



cuspidate, or caudate, 3-5- rarely 7-veined, base cuneate or 

 rounded, rarely subcordate, with a deep or shallow open sinus, 

 glabrous and shining on both surfaces, finely reticulate 

 beneath, margin very narrowly cartilaginous, petiole 4-1 in., 

 stout, often prehensile; male spikes 3-8 in. long, axillary, 

 solitary or clustered, very slender, quite glabrous, rarely 

 branched; fl. sessile, ^V-tV i"- diam., solitary, distant, rarely 

 2-3 nate ; bract broadly ovate, acuminate, much smaller than 

 the fl.; perianth-scgm. broadly ovate, tips rounded; stam. 6, 

 fil. stout, anth. large, didymous; pistillode conical, 3-lobed ; 

 fern. fl. distant, in solitary, axillary, pendulous spikes, 6-1 2 in. 

 long, glabrous ; ov. glabrous, with a minute, ovate bract at 

 the base; perianth.-segm. orbicular; staminodes 6, minute; 

 stigmasshort, linear, spreading; fr. transversely oblong, 1^-2 in. 

 diam,, retuse at both ends coriaceous, carpels i-circular, or 

 broader than long; seeds broadly winged all round. 



Moist region up to 4000 ft.; common. Fl. Sept. -Jan.; greenish. 



Also in India. 



Dr. Trimen has a note to the effect that Thwaites's var. /3, Enum. 1. c. 

 (C. P. 2872, 31 19) is quite different, but I fail to distinguish it. Thwaites's 

 sole character is ' 1. rounded, cordate, or even deeply cordate at the base ' 

 in contradistinction to a, in which they are acute ;> but I find the 1. of 

 I), spicata to be too protean to enable me to found varieties upon them. 



6. D. sativa, Linn. Sp. PI. 1033 (1753). Panu-kondol, S. 



Thw. Enum. 326 in note. D. bulbijera., Br. Thw. 1. c. (non Linn.). 

 Moon, Cat. n. 69. C. P. 2997. 



Herm, Par. Bot. 217; Mus. 46. Burm. Thes. 207. Fl. Zeyl. 358. 



Fl. Brit. Ind. vi. 295. Linn. Hort. Cliff, t. 28. Wight, Ic. t. 878 

 {D. bulbiferd). 



Root-tubers very large, globose or elongate ; stem terete, 

 unarmed, glabrous, tuberiferous in the 1. axils; I. opp. and alt, 

 3-14 in. long and broad, broadly ovate-cordate, sometimes 

 broader than long, acuminate cuspidate or caudate, 7-9-veined, 

 glabrous, membranou.s, basal sinus broad, deep or shallow, 

 petiole 2-6 in.; male spikes 1-4 in., filiform, crowded or 

 scattered on the branches of crowded axillary slender pendu- 

 lous glabrous spikes or panicles up to 12 in. long, green or 

 [)urplish ; fl. solitary, sessile by a broad base, bracts ovate, 

 acuminate ; perianth-scgm. subvalvatc, fleshy, outer ^V i"- 

 long, lanceolate, inner rather smaller and narrower ; stam. 6, 

 fil. much shorter than the segm., anth. minute, didymous ; 

 pistillode 3-lobed; fcm. spikes axillary, solitary or fascicled, 

 4-10 in. long, pendulous; fl. sessile, 1 in. long, glabrous; 

 perianth-scgm. as in the male; staminodes 6; ov. with 2 

 minute, ovate, acuminate bracts at the base, style short, 

 conical, stigmas 3, very short, recurved ; fr. H-i in. long, by 



