CXXXI. DIOSCOBEACE.E. 759 



sessile with a broad base ; outer lobes -^j by ^ in., broadly ovate or 

 suborbicular, concave, obtuse, mottled with brown ; inner lobes smaller, 

 somewhat ovate, mottled with browu. Stamens 6, perfect ; anthers 

 didymous ; pistillode obscure. Female flowers distant, in solitary or 

 fasciculate axillary spikes 6-8 in. long; bracts ^ in. long, suborbicular, acu- 

 minate, and as well as the perianth-lobes mottled with browu. Capsules 

 suborbicular or often broader than long, 1-1 1 in. in diam., truncate, retuse 

 or almost 2-lobed at the apex, coriaceous, glabrous, base cuneate. Seeds 

 orbicular, f-1 in. in diam. with a large membranous wing all round the 

 nucleus. El. B. I. v. 6, p. 292 ; Grab. Cat. p. 219 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 247 ; 

 Wight, Icon. t. 813 ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 4, p. 276 ; Woodr. in Journ. 

 Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1899) p. 523 ; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 3, p. 132.— 

 Elowers : Sept.-Oct. Veen. Paspoli. 



Stocks without locality in Herb. Kew. ! Konkan : Stocks ! Decoan : near Poona, 

 Woodrow, 364 ! ; Bowdhan, 8 miles W. of Poona, Kanitkar ! ; Kbandala, Cooke ! ; near 

 Shivapur. Kanitkar ! Kanaka : Stocks ! — Distrib. East and west coasts of S. India, 

 Assam ; Cejdon. 



Dioscorea fasciculata, Roxb. El. Ind. v. 3 (1832) p. 801. Var. spinosa, 

 Prain, Beng. PI. p. 1065. Tubers few, unequal, mixed with many 

 fibrous roots, of which the uppermost are spinous. Leaves pubescent, 

 reniform or orbicular, cordate at the base, with sharp stipule-like spines. 

 Capsules broader than long, broadlv obcordate. Dioscorea spinosa (sp.), 

 Eoxb. ex Wall. Cat. (1828) 5103^ Hook. f. in El. B. I. v. 6 (1892) 

 p. 291 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. ]2 (1899) p. 522. D. aculeata, 

 Eoxb. El. Ind. v. 3 (1832) p. 800; Grab. Cat. p. 218; Dalz. & Gibs. 

 Suppl. p. 92 ; Watt, Diet. Econ, Prod. v. 3, p. 125. 



Sparingly cultivated in gardens. The tubers are largely imported 

 into Bombay and kiio«n as the Goa Potato (Graham, Dalzell Si- 

 Gibson). 



Dioscorea alata, Linn, Sp. PI. (1753) p. 1033. Var. yhhosa, Prain, 

 Beng. PI. p. 1065. Quite glabrous ; tubers roundish or oblong, white 

 inside ; stem acutely angled or winged. Leaves mostly opposite, 3-7 by 

 l,|-5 in., broadly ovate, cuspidately acuminate, subhastately or deeply 

 cordate and 7-9-nerved at the base ; petioles 2-5 in. long. Capsules 1 by 

 1| in., broader than long, of 2 semicircular flat lobes, retuse at the apex, 

 cuneate at the base. Seeds with a wing all round. Cultivated commonly. 

 Dioscorea alata (sp.). Grab. Cat. p. 218 ; Hook. f. El. B. I. v. 6, p, 296 ; 

 AVoodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1899) p. 523 (all in part). Dioscorea 

 globosa (sp.), Eoxb. El. Ind. v, 3 (1832) p, 797 ; Dalz. & Gibs, Suppl 

 p. 92; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod, v, 3, p, 131. Graham says that the 

 plant is wild in the Konkan, but this is not the case. The plant has 

 not apparently been found wild in India and is only known in cultivation. 

 The tubers are much esteemed as a vegetable by Europeans and natives. — 

 Elowers : Aug. Vern. Goradu. 



Excluded Species. 

 DIOSCOREA GLABRA, Roxb. Fl. Ind. V. 3 (1832) p. 804. This species does not 

 appear to occur in the Bombay Presidency, though the Konkan is assigned as its 

 habitat in the ' Flora of Britisli India.' There are no specimens from the Konkan in 

 Herb. Kew. Woodrow in his list merely copies the Flora of B. 1., but neither ho nor 

 any other botanist has discovered the plant in Bombay, 



