LXXXni. ASCLEPIADACE^. 159 



short caudicle to the pollen-carriers. Style-apex very shortly conical or 

 blunt. Follicles 4-5 by ^ in., lanceolate, tapering to both ends, straight, 

 slightly diverging when two together. Seeds i by g in., ovate, flattened, 

 coma I in. long. Fl. B. I. v. 4, p. 26 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 140 ; Wight, 

 Icon. t. 595 ; Talb. Trees, Bomb. ed. 2, p. 235 ; Woodr. in Journ. 

 Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1898) p. 167 ; Watt, Diet. Ecou. Prod. v. G, part 2, 

 p. 477. — Flowers : June-July. Vebn. Soma. 



KoNKAN : Stocks ! Deccan : in stony places, Balzell, Talbot ; Poona, Cooke !, 

 Woodrowl S. M. Country : Belganm, Eitchie,l66i\ — Distrib. India (Bengal, Birraa, 

 W. Peninsula). 



The stems of this plant as well as those of Sarcostemma intermedium are used by 

 cultivators to extirpate white ants from sugar-cane fields. A bundle of twigs is put 

 into the trough from which the field is watered together with a bag of salt, and the 

 water thus impregnated destroys the while ants without affecting the crop. The milky 

 juice of the plant is drunk by native travellers. See Walt, Diet. Econ. Prod. 1. c. 



2. Sarcostemma Stocksii, Hool: f. Fl B. I. v. 4 (1883) p. 27. 

 Stems g-| in. in diam., green, glabrous. Flowers in terminal umbels 

 exactly as in Sarcostemma hrevistigma. Follicles 2^-3 in. long, straight, 

 cylindric, almost the same breadth throughout except towards the sub- 

 acute apex, widely divaricate, so much so that both follicles are some- 

 times in one horizontal straight line. Seeds \ by ^Ig- in., narrowly 

 oblong, truncate at the apex, somewhat attenuated towards the base ; 

 coma 1 in. long. Fl. B. I. v. 4, p. 27 ; Talb. Trees, Bomb. ed. 2, p. 236. 

 Sarcostemma hracliystigma (by error for hrevistigma), Hook. Icon. t. 861 

 {axillary umbels of flowers incorrectly shewn). — Flowers : July-Sept. 

 The only difference between this plant and S. hrevistigma seems to be 

 in the follicles. 



S. M. Country : Gadag taluka of the Dharwar district, Talbot. Sind : Stocks, 509 ! 

 — Distrib. Apparently endemic in the Bombay Presidency. 



3. SarcostemmLa intermedium, Decaisne, in DO. Prodr. v. 8 

 (1844) p. 538. Twining. Flowers in terminal and lateral sessile 

 umbels. Calvx puberulous outside, divided to the base or nearly so ; 

 segments -^^ in. long, ovate-oblong, subacute. Corolla white, divided 

 nearly to the base ; lobes ^ in. long, oblong, obtuse ; outer corona with 

 10 obtuse lobes on the margin ; lobes of the inner corona rather thin, 

 not fleshy, oblong, subacute. Staminal-column elongate ; pollen-masses 

 waxy, clavate, compressed, attached by rather long caudicles to the 

 pollen-carriers. Style-apex oblong-fusiform, much exserted beyond 

 the anthers. Follicles 3-4 in. long, not narrowed at the base, narrowed 

 towards the tip, not divaricate when two together. Seeds l-\ by 

 Jy- ^ in., oblong, flattened, rounded at the base, truncate at the apex ; 

 coma I in. long. Fl. B. I. v. 4, p. 27 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 149 ; Wight, 

 Icon. t. 1281. Sarcostemma viminale, Wight, Contrib. p. 59 (not of 

 E. Br.) ; Grab. Cat. p. 122.— Flowers : July-Sept. 



KoNKAN : Stocks I Deccan: Dahclli^- Gibson; V oor\a. Woodrow \ ; rocky hills about 

 Loni, Graham ; Kamatki and Kartriz Ghats, Graham. Gujarat: island of Perim at 

 the mouth of the Narbada river. Dr. Lush ex G^;-«/(a;;i.— Distrib. India (W. 

 Peninsula). 



14. GYMNEMA, E. Br. 



Twining shrubs. Leaves opposite. Flowers small, in crowded lateral 

 umbellate cymes. Calyx 5-partite. Corolla siibrotate, campanulate or 



