IiBPZAOBHXA.] ASCLEPIADACEJE. 63 



acuminate, smooth. Seeds como»e— Species about 1 2, in Trop. Asia 

 and Af/ica. 



A leafy twining shrub . . . . . 1. L. reticulata. 



An erect almost leafless shrub . . . 2. L. Spartium. 



1. L. reticulata, IF. # A. in Wight Contrib. 47 ; F. B. I. iv, 63; Watt 

 I'D.; Kanjildl For. Fl. 244; Gamble Man. fad. Timb. 493; Cooke Fl. 

 Bomb. H, 172 ; Brandis Ind. Trees 472. Asclepias tuberosa, Roxb. Fl. hid. 

 i, 33. 



A much-branched twining leafy shrub, bark of older stems corky, 

 branchlets more or less minutely pubescent. Leaves thin, subcoriace- 

 ous ; blade 2-3 in. lung, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute or acuminate 

 subcordate rounded or acute at the base, glabrous above, more or less 

 minutely pubescent beneath, petioles i-f in. long. Flowers pale-brown, 

 in many-flowered lateral or subaxillary umbelliform cymes ; peduncle 

 i | in. lung, < ften in pairs, puberulous, pedicels shorter. Calyx silky 

 outside, divided about half-way down into ovate-oblong subacute seg- 

 ments. Corolla pubescent outside, W in long, tube very short ; lobes 

 thick, ovate-oblong, subobtuse, margins revolute, tips often reflexed 

 and usually hairy on the inner face. Follicles usually solitary, 2-3£ in. 

 long, tapering from a rather turgid base into an obtuse curved beak, 

 very hard, smooth and whitish. Seeds about i in. long, narrowly ovate 

 oblong, flat and margined, coma 1* in. long. 



A common plant within the area, especially in the sub-Himalayan tracts 

 from the Jumna eastwards to Gorakhpur, also in Bundelkhand. 

 Flowers May- July. Distrib. ■. From the foot of the Punjab Himalaya 



, through Central W. and S. India to Ceylon, extending to Burma and 

 the Malay Peninsula. 



2. L. Spartium, Wight Contrib. 48; Royle. III. 272 ; F. B. I. iv, 64 ; 

 Watt E. 1).; Gamble Man. Ind. Timb. 493; Cooke Fl. Bomb, ii, 173; 

 Brandis Ind. Trees 472.— Vern. Kip (Sind). 



A much-branched often leafless bush, 2-6 ft. high ; young parts puberulous. 

 Branches slender, rigid, erect, terete, green. Leaves (when present) on 

 the young shoots only, sul'sessile, 1-3 in. long, linear, acute or acu- 

 minate, thick, glabrous. Flowers yellow, peduncles*^ in. long. Calyx 

 pubescent, divided half-way down, lobes acute. Corolla } in. long, deeply 

 divided ; tube short, funnel-shaped, glabrous ; lobes ovate-lanceolate, 

 thickened towards the apex, puberulous outside. Follicles, 3-5 in. long, 

 terete, tapering into the long slender straight beak, narruwed at the 

 base, glabrous. Seeds \ in. long, narrowly lanceolate, coma 1-1 i in. long. 



Found only in the dry western portions of the area in the neighbourhood 

 of Agra, Delhi. Gwalior and Jhansi. Flowers Dec. and Jan. Distrib.: 

 Westwards through the Punjab Plain and Rajj.utann to Baluchistan, 

 Sind and Kairiawar, extending to Arabia and Trop. Africa. The fibre 



