CBYnoLEns. ] ASCLEPIA1)A< VEM 45 



in flexed membranous tips, pollens ing in pairs in each 



cell, granular, appendages of the oot] dilated or hooded. 



s ima 5 -angled, with a flat crown. Follicle* divaricate, slender, 

 : i. Seeds comose. A. single species, restricted to India. 



H. indlcus, B. Br. in Jfem. Wen. Boe. i. 57; F. B. I. iv,5j Loyle 

 III. 274; Watt E. D.; Prowi Beng. PI. 686; Cooke PL Bomb, it, \40 

 Asclepias pseudosursa, Roxb. ; Fl. lad., U, 39 (excl. syn.J. 



A twining or prostrate shrub. Leaves 2-4 in. lorg, elliptic-oblorg to 

 1; near-lanceolate, obtuse or acute, apiculate, usually glabroue, dark- 

 green or mottled with white above, pale or silvery white and sometimes 

 pubescent beneath, midrib stout, veins reticulate, petiole | in. long. 

 I'- dials short, clothed with many ovate acute imbricating bracts 

 ' *hl* u5 in. long, glabrous outside ; lobes ovate, acute, margins ciliate. 

 Corolla ±-± in. long, greenish outside, purple within ; tube very short ; 

 lobes fleshy, ovate-oblong, acuminate, valvate. Follicles 4-6 in. long. 

 <ds J-J in., flattened, black ; coma 1 in. long, pure white. 



Forests of N. Oudh and Gorakhpur, also in Bundelkhand. Flowers 

 during the greater part of the year. Distp.ib. Eastwards to Bengal 

 and the Sundribans, and from the Central Provinces to S. India and 

 Ceylon. In S. India the root of this plant is nsed as a substitute 

 for sarsaparilla ; and in many parts of India it is prescribed by native 

 doctors, either alone or in conjunction with other drugs, in the treat- 

 ment of various ailments. 



2. CRYPTOLEPIS, R. Br., Fl. Brit. Iud. iv, 5. 



Glabrous and usually twining shrubs. Leaves opposite. Flowers 

 suall and in las slender dichotomous few-flowered terminal or axillary 

 cymes. Calyx deeply 5-tid., with five soales within. Corolla-tube 

 short, cylindric or bell-shaped ; lobes linear, overlapping and twisted 

 to the right in bnd. Corona-scales free, adnate to the middle of the 

 corolla-tube, linear or clavate, conniving. Stamens attached towards 

 the base of the corolla-tube, filaments subconnate by their broad bases ; 

 anthers short, adhering to the stigma by their bases ; tips acuminate, 

 conniving; pollen-masses cohering in pairs in each cell, granular 

 appendages of corpuscles oblong. Stigma broadly conic. Follicles 

 2, divaricate, terete, smooth. Seeds comose. — Species about 20, in 

 tropical Asia and Africa. 



C- Bucnanani, & and 8. Syst. iv, 409 ; Falc. in Trans. Linn. 8oc. xix, 

 53, t 5; Brandts For. Fl. 330; F. B. I. iv, 5; Watt E. D. ; Kanjilal For. 

 Fl. 239 ; Gamble Man. Ind. . tt Fl. Siml. 315; Prain Beng. 



PI. 685; Cooke Fl. Boynb.ii, 147; C. reticulata, Wall} Boyle 111. 270. 

 Nerium, reticulatum, Roxb.; Fl. lnd.ii'8. — Vera. Karanta,medka-nngki 

 (DehraDun). 



