LXXXVIII. CONTOLYULACE^. 241 



■when young, minutely reticulately veined, base cordate or truncate ; 

 petioles |-2 in. long, pubescent. Cymes few-flowered ; peduncles 

 stout, 1-2 in. long; bracts large, lanceolate, pubescent, reaching 1 in. 

 long, caducous, often pinkish ; pedicels |-1 in. long, stout, pubescent, 

 slightly thickened upwards. Outer sepals up to | in. long in flower, 

 much enlarged in fruit, broadly ovate or suborbicular, obtuse, niucronate, 

 concave, pubescent ; the 3 inner sepals smaller, scarcely | in. long, very 

 thinly membranous, glabrous, apiculate. Corolla M'hite, l|-2 in. long, 

 subcampanulate. Anthers nearly ^ in. long, narrowly oblong, cordate. 

 Capsules ^-^ in. in diam., globose, enclosed in the enlarged brittle very 

 imbricate sepals, glabrous or faintlv pubescent. Ipnmoea Turpethum, 

 E. Br. Prodr. (1810) p. 485 ; C. B. Clarke, in Hook. f. Fl. B. I. v. 4, 

 p. 212 ; Grab. Cat. p. 131 ; Dak. & Gibs. p. 165; Trim. 11. Ceyl. v. 3, 

 p. 222 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1898) p. 171 ; Watt, Diet. 

 Econ. Prod. v. 4, p. 493. — Flowers: Oct.-Jan, Vebn. Nisottar ; 

 Dudh-halmi. 



KoNKAN : Miimbra near Tbana, CooJcc ! ; RevadancTa, Woodrow, KanUJcarl ; Salsette, 

 Graham. Deccan : Balzell i§- Gibson. Gujarat: Bahcll tf- Gibson, Woodrow, 10!; 

 very common iu the southern parts especially about Dharanpur, Graham. — Distrib. 

 Throughout India, sometimes cultivated ; Ceylon, Malay Islands, Tropical America, 

 Mauritius, Phili]ii3ines, Tropical Africa. 



The root of the plant has long been used in medicine as a purgative and is known 

 as Turpeth-root or Indian Jalap. See Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. 1. c. 



] 4. IPOMCEA, Liun. 



Herbs (rarely shrubs) twining or prostrate, rarely erect or suberect. 

 Leaves alternate, usually entire. Flowers usually large, in axillary 

 (rarely paniculate) cymes which are often reduced to a single flower. 

 Sepals 5, equal or unequal, imbricate, often enlarged in fruit. Corolla 

 campanulate or infuudibuliform ; limb plicate, slightly lobed ; bands 

 usually defined by 2 prominent lines. Stamens 5, usually included ; 

 filaments filiform or dilated below, often unequal ; anthers straight or 

 contorted ; pollen echinulate. Ovary 2 (rarely 3 or 4) -celled ; ovules 4 

 (rarely 6) ; style filiform ; stigma capitate, entire or 2-3-globose (rarely 

 stigmas 2-linear). Capsule 4-6-valved, rarely indehiscent. Seeds 

 usually 4 or 6 (rarely solitary), glabrous, bearded, or uniformly velvety 

 or woolly. — Distrib. Tropical and warmer regions of the globe ; species 

 about 400. 



Leaves entire (occasionally 3-lobed in J. pilosa). 



Outer sepals sagittate or cordate at the base 1. I. calycina. 



Outer sepals not cordate at the base. 



Sepals much enlarged in fruit 2. /. barlerioides. 



Sepals not or slightly enlarged in fruit. 

 Movs-ers in sessile or nearly sessile heads. 



Leaves ovate, acute ; capsule hairy ; seeds glabrous, 



minutely foveolate 3. /. eriocarpa. 



Leaves elliptic or rhomboid, .subacute ; capsule 



glabrous; seeds furred, their margins villous ... 4. I. Stocksii. 

 Leaves oblong-hastate, acute ; capsule glabrous ; 



seeds velvety . . 6. I. sindica. 



Flowers in pedunculate cymes or panicles. 

 Sepals hispid. 



Stems prostrate ; leaves as broad as long, very 



obtuse 6. I. vumicifolia. 



