Smiiax?^, LiUacecE. 283 



1. S. aspera, Linn. Sp. PI. 1028 (1753). 



S. maculata, Roxb., Thw. Enum. 338. Trim. Syst. Cat. 94. C. P. 75. 

 Fl. B. Ind. vi. 306. Wight, Ic. t. 2059 {S. maculata). 



A scandent, glabrous, much-branched, more or less prickly 

 shrub, branches angular; 1. i|^-3 in., ovate, deltoid or lanceolate, 

 rarely orbicular, acute or acuminate, jointed on the petiole, 

 or cordate with rounded lobes, 5-9-veined, often blotched 

 with white, base truncate or hastate, petiole |-| in. and veins 

 beneath smooth or prickly, sheath with long or short tendrils ; 

 spike 2-6 in., rhachis zigzag, smooth ; umbels sessile, few- 

 er many-fld., bracts alternate, ovate, acute, bracteoles minute, 

 pedicels shorter than the fl. buds ; male fl. about \ in. broad, 

 sep. linear-oblong ; pet. rather narrower ; anth. linear, shorter 

 than the fil. ; fem. fl. smaller, sep. and pet. broader; stami- 

 nodes 6, stigmas sessile, oblong, recurved; berries pisiform, 

 \-\ in. diam., red. 



Montane zone up to 7000 ft.; common. Fl. April; pinkish-yellow, 

 fragrant. 



Throughout India, and westward, to the Mediterranean region. 



2. S. zeylanica, L. Sp. PI. 1029 (1753). Itabarasa, Kin- 

 kabarasa, S. 



Herm. Mus. 22. Burm. Thes. 217. Fl. Zeyl. n. 364. Moon, Cat. 69. 

 Thw. Enum. 338. C. P. 3670. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 309. Rheede, Hort. Mai. vii. t. 31. 



A scandent, glabrous, unarmed, or sparingly prickly shrub, 

 branches slender, flexuous, angular; 1. 3-4 by i|-2| in., oval, 

 broadly oblong or orbicular, tip rounded obtuse or obtusely 

 cuspidate, upper sometimes acute, base rounded or cordate, 

 3-5-veined, coriaceous, margins cartilaginous ; petiole -^-i in., 

 jointed at the middle, base narrowly sheathing, cirrhiferous ; 

 umbels about i in. diam., globose, solitary, or 2-3 on a 

 terminal rhachis, 10-30-fld., ped. short, pedicel \-\ in., bracts 

 and bracteoles minute, buds obovoid or oblong ; fl. about \ in. 

 broad ; male perianth-segm. linear ; stam. as long as the sep., 

 anth. oblong, much shorter than the fil. ; fem. perianth-segm. 

 ovate-oblong, obtuse ; staminodes 6 ; stigma linear, obtuse, at 

 length revolute ; berries subglobose, usually 2-seeded ; seeds 

 plano-convex. 



Moist region up to 5000ft.; common. FL Sept.; pale green. 



Also in India, Burma, and Malaya. 



Thw. quotes Wight, Ic. tt. 2057, 8, for this; but A. DC. in his mono- 

 graph, p. 174, refers these figures to his S. Wightii. 



3. S. prolifera, Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 795 (1832). Mahaka- 

 barasa, S. 



S. latifolia, Moon, Cat. 69. S. ovalifolia, Thw. Enum. 338 (non 

 Roxb.). C. P. 2302. 

 Fl. B. Ind. vi. 312. 



