cxxxi. dioscobeace.t;, 757 



< 

 nearly |- iu. across ; lobes broadly oblong or suborbicular, usually 

 rounded, the 3 outer membranous, shorter than the inner, the 3 inner 

 coriaceous or somewhat fleshy, with incurved tips, lonc:;er than the outer. 

 Stamens 6, all antheriferous ; anthers subsessile. Pistillode very low, 

 broad. Female flowers : Spikes solitary, distant. Capsules 2 by 1 in., 

 quadrately oblong, truncately rounded at the ends, smooth and polished ; 

 pedicels very short. Seeds 1^ in. long (including the wing) ; wing g by 

 I in., at the base of the seed, membranous, oblong, obtuse, broader than 

 the flat oblique nucleus. Tl. B. I. v. 6, p. 289 ; Wight, Icon. t. 811 ; 

 Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1899) p. 522; Prain, Beug. PI. 

 p. 1064; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 3, p. 129. Helmia dcemona, Kunth, 

 Enum. V. 5 (1850) p. 439 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 247.— Elowers : Oct. 



Not common in the Bombay Presidency. Konkan : Law ! ; hills in the Konkan 

 rare, Balzell ^- Gibson ; Vingorla, Dalzell Sj Gibson. S. M. Country : CasUeroct, 

 Woodrow. Kanaka: below tbe fall on the Kala naddi, Ritchie, 1448! — Distrib. 

 Throughout India; Malaya, Tonkin. 



2. Dioscorea pentaphylla, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) p. 1032. Eoot- 

 tubers oblong, very long (5-6 ft. according to Thwaites) ; stem slender, 

 twining, glabrous, prickly towards the base, often bulbiferous in the leaf- 

 axils. Leaves alternate, 3-5 (rarely 7) -foliolate, glabrous or sparsely 

 pubescent beneath ; common petiole 1-2^ in. long ; leaflets variable in 

 size and shape, 2-5 by 1-2 in., elliptic-lanceolate, ovate or obovate, 

 acuminate, cuspidate or subcaudate, base usually acute ; lateral leaflets 

 obhque at the base ; petiolules very short. Male flowees pale- 

 greenish, fragrant, in very slender shortly pedunculate racemes 1-1 1 iii- 

 long, which are solitary or in fascicles along the hairy branches of a 

 panicle 6-12 in. long; bracts jL- in. long and as broad as long, mem- 

 branous, often mottled with brown, broadly ovate or almost semicircular, 

 with a long slender acumen, glabrous. Perianth nearly i iu. across 

 when spread out ; segments often mottled with brown, ovate, subacute, 

 sparsely pubescent, subequal ; pedicels very short. Stamens 3 perfect ; 

 anthers subsessile ; staminodes 3, minute. Pistillode 3-lobed. Eemale 

 FLOWERS in axillary pendulous pubescent spikes 2-6 in. long. Capsules 

 quadrately oblong, f-1 in. long, usually refuse at both ends, nearly 

 glabrous or more or less pubescent, often apiculate. Seeds |-f in. long 

 (including the wing at the base) ; wing longer and broader than the 

 oblique nucleus, thinly membranous. El. B. I. v. 6, p. 289 ; Grab. Cat. 

 p. 218; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 247; Wight, Icon. t. 814; Trim. El. Ceyl. 

 V. 4, p. 276; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1899) p. 522; Prain, 

 Beng. PI. p. 1065; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 3, p. 132. Dioscorea 

 triphylla, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) p. 1032; Grab. Cat. p. 218: Dalz. & 

 Gibs. p. 247. D. Jacquemontii, Hook. f. El. B. I, v, 6 (1892) p. 290.— 

 Elowers : Sept.-Oct. Vern. Shendvel. 



Konkan: Balzell ^~ Gibson; Konkan and Ghats, Graham. Deccan: Kliandala, 

 Cooke \; Sinhagad, Woodrow; Mahableshwar, Cooke], H. M. Birdwood; be ween 

 Poona and Karli, Jacquemont\ S. M. Country: Belgaum, Ritchie, 730! — Distrib. 

 Throughout India ; Ceylon, Malay hills. Tropical Africa. The tubers of the wild 

 plant are dug up and eaten throughout India. The fragrant male flowers are sold 

 in the native bazaars and eaten as greens {Balzell Sf Gibson). 



I cannot separate Bioscorea Jacquemontii, Hook, f., from B. pentajyhi/lla, which is 

 itself a rather variable plant. I have found mottled bracts and mottled perianth- 

 lobes, as well as flowers nearly | in. across when spread out, in many specimens of 

 B. pentaphylla from several localities in the Presidency. The diSerence in the size of 



