48 ASCLEPIADACE&. [ Cau>tbopjs. 



Leaves sessile or nearly so. 



Corolla-lobes spreading . . . 1. C. gigantea. 



Corolla-lobes erect 2. C. procera. 



Leaves distinctly petioled, corolla-lobes erect 3. C. Ada. 



1. C. gigantea, B. Br. in Ait. Hort. Few. ed. 2, ii, 78 ; Ham. in Trans. 

 Linn. Soc. xiv, 245 ; Boyle III, 275 ; Brandis For. Fl. 331 ; F. B. I. iv, 17 ; 

 Watt E. D.; Kanjilal For. Fl. 240 ; Gamble Man. Ind. Timb. 491 ; Frain 

 Beng. PI. 688 ; Cooke Fl. Bomb, ii, 151. Asclepias gigantea, Willd. ; Roxb. 

 Fl. Ind. ii, SO.— Tern. Muddr, safed dk. 



A la^ge shrub 8-10 ft. high or occasionally subarboreous ; bark ash- 

 coloured, wrinkled ; young parts and under surface of leaves covered 

 with appressed white floccose tomentum. Leaves sessile, thick, 

 glaucous-green, 4-8 in. long, elliptic or obovate-oblong, acute or 

 shortly acuminate, with a narrow cordate or often amplexicaul base- 

 Flovjers H-2 in. in diam., arranged in umhellate cymes, not scented, 

 buds ovoid. Sepals ± in. long, ovate, acute. Corolla £-1 in. in diam., 

 purplish or white ; lobes £ in. or more, spreading, deltoid, subacute. 

 Corona-lobes \ in. long, hairy, shorter than the columD, curved on the 

 back above the involute obtuse spur ; apex rounded, with two obtnse 

 auricles just below it. Follicles 3-4 in. long, recurved, turgid, smooth. 

 Seeds £ in. long, broadly ovate, flat, minutely tomentose, with a silky 

 white coma. 

 Common in many parts of the area as a weed on fallow land and in waste 

 ground. Flowers and fruits throughout the year. Distrib. Through- 

 out the'hotter parts cf India and in Ceylon, Malay Pen. and Islands, 

 Burma, Siam to S. China. A valuable fibre is obtained from the stem 

 of this plant, and the floss of the seeds is krgely used for stuffing pil- 

 lows. Almost every part of the plant possesses medicinal properties. 

 Gunpowder charcoal is prepared from the wood and the sap yields 

 a kind of gutta-percha. Garlands composed of the bluish-coloured 

 corona of the flowers are used at religious ceremonies. 

 2 C procera, R. Br. in Ait, Hort. Eeic. ed, 2, ii, 78 ; Ham. in Trans. 

 Linn. Soc. cciv, (1825). 246 ; Boyle III. 275 ; Brandis For. Fl. 331; Watt 

 E D.; F.B.I.iv, 18; Kanjilal For. Fl. 241 ; Gamble Man. Ind. Timb. 

 491 ;'6ollett Fl. Siml. 315 ; Frain Beng. PI. 689 ; Cooke Fl. Bomb, ii, 152— 

 Vera. Ak, maddr. 



A large shrub 6-8 ft. high, very similar in foliage and general appearance 

 to the preceding. Flowers about 1 in. acruss, scented, buds hemis- 

 pherical. Corolla pink, with purple spots ; lobes f in. long, erect. 

 Corona-lobes \ in. long, glabrous, equalling or exceeding the staminal 

 column, straight or nearly so on the back above the acute upcurved 

 spur, the apex bifid and without auricles. Follicles and seeds as in 

 C. gigantea. 



Common within the area, but chiefly in the sub-Himalayan tracts east- 

 wards to the Sarda, also in Bundelkhand. Flowers Mar. to I/Iay. 

 Distrib. In the hot and drier parts of India frum the Punjab and 

 Sind to W. and C. India, extending through Afghanistan, Persia and 



