224 LXXXVIII. CONVOLTULACE^. 



Curolla mere or less hypoeraterifui'in ; sepals usually 



aristate; stamens exserted 15. Calonyction. 



Fruit inddiiscent, woody, mealy or fleshy. 



Fruit woody ; corolla hypocrateriform ; stigmas elliptic- 

 oblong 16. ElVEA. 



Fruit mealy or flosliy ; corolla not or very rarely hypo- 

 crateriform ; stigmas globose. 



Ovary 4-celled 17. Arovreia. 



Ovary 2-celled 18. Lkttso.mia. 



1. CUSCUTA, Linn. 



Leafless yellow or reddish, twining, parasitic annuals. Stems slender, 

 sometimes filiform. Flowers small, white or rose-colored, sessile or 

 pedicellate, solitary or in lateral fascicles or short racemes ; bracts small 

 or 0. Calyx usually deeply divided ; segments 5 (rarely 4), distinct or 

 connate at the base, subequal. Corolla campanulate, ovoid or globose, 

 usually with fimbriate or lobed scales near the base or below the stamens 

 within ; lobes 5 or 4, sliort, imbricate in bud. Stamens 5 or 4, inserted 

 in or below the throat of the corolla-tube ; filaments short ; anthers 

 short, obtuse, partially exserted. Ovary perfectly or imperfectly 2- 

 celled ; ovules 2 in each cell ; styles 1 or 2 ; stigmas 2. Capsule 

 globose or ovoid, dry or succulent, circumscissile or irregularly breaking 

 up, 4-2-seeded. Seeds glabrous ; albumen fleshy ; embryo slender, 

 spiral ; cotyledons or obscure. — Distbib. AV^arm and temperate 

 regions ; species 80. 



Stylo 1, short, stout ; stigmas ovoid, thick and fleshy 1. C. rejlexa. 



Styles 2, distinct, clongiite, slender; stigmas capitate. 



Scales on the corolla-tube 2. C. hyalina. 



Scales on the corolla-tube fimbriate 3. C. chinensis. 



1. Cuscuta reflexa, Eoxh. Cor. PI. v. 2 (1798) p. 3, 1. 104. Stems 

 very long, rather stout, closely twining, branched, glabrous, pale 

 greenish-yellow, sometimes dotted with red. Llowers solitary or iu 

 umbellate clusters of 2-4 or in short racemes ; pedicels short, glabrous, 

 usually curved (rarely 0) ; bracts j\ in. long, ovate-oblong, obtuse, 

 fleshy. Calyx divided almost to the base ; lobes ^ in. long, slightly 

 unequal, broadly ovate, obtuse, glabrous, fleshy. Corolla white ; tube 

 4"~3 '^y a ^'^•' 3,lmost cylindric ; lobes jj^-^ iu. long, deltoid, acute, 

 retlexed ; scales almost at the base of the corolla-tube, large, oblong, 

 subquadrate or somewhat obovate, fijubriate and incurved at the apex. 

 Stamens in the throat of the corolla-tube ; filaments scarcely any ; 

 anthers about ^-exserted beyond the top of the corolla-tube. Ovary 

 ovoid; style simple, very short and thick; stigmas 2, distinct, large, 

 thick and fleshy, -^-^ in. long, ovoid. Capsules ^-g in. in diam., depressed- 

 globose, glabrous, circumscissile near the base. Seeds 2-4, large, black, 

 glabrous. Yl B. I. v. 4, p. 225; Grab. Cat. p. 134; Hook. Exot. El. 

 t. 150 ; Trim. El. Ceyl. v. 3, p. 229; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. 

 V. 12 (1898) p. 172; "Engelm. Cuscut. p. 68 ; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. 

 V. 2, p. 671. — Elowers: Jau.-Eeb. Vekn. Amarvel; A'ldshvel. 



KoNKAN : Stocls], DalzellA S. M. Oountkv : Dliarwar, Woodroto\ Gujarat: 

 common, Vaiipel ex Graham. — Distkir. Tlu'oughout India ; Ceylon, Malaya. 



The stems and seeds have some repute in native medicine. See Watt, Diet. Econ. 

 Trod. 1. c. 



