APOCYNI 205 



The bark and root arc poisonous, and the leaves used in native medicine. 



Ibs. 

 H 3057. Murree Hills, 5,000 feet . v 37 



ORDER LXX. ASCLEPIADE^]. 



A large Order of shrubs or undershrubs, generally scandcnt. It contains about 

 11 genera with woody steins, divided into 5 tribes, viz., 



Tribe I, Periploceie . . . . . Cryptolepis, Finlaysonia, 



Streptocaulon and Peri- 

 ploca. 



II. Secamoneas Toxocarpus. 



* III. CynancheaB ..... Calotropis and Raphistemma. 



IV. Marsdeniea? Gymnema, Marsdenia and 



Pergularia. 

 V. Ceropegiese ..... Leptadenia 



Cryptolepis Biichanani, Roem. and Sen. ; Brandis 330; Kurz ii. 199 (Nerium 

 reticulatum, Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 8). Vern. Karanta, Hind., is a twining shrub of most 

 parts of India, rare in Burma. Finlaysonia obovata, Wall. ; Kurz ii. 197, is a 

 climber of the tidal forests of Burma. Streptocaulon tomentosum, Wight, and 

 S. extensum, Wight; Kurz ii. 198, are climbers : the first of the En g forests, the 

 s.-eond of the lower mixed forests of Burma. Periploca contains 2 species. 

 P. phylla, Decaisne; Brandis 330. Vern. Barrarra, bane, Trans-Indus; Bdta, 

 Jhelum and Chenab, is a shrub of the arid and northern dry zones in the Punjab and 

 Sind ; and P. calophylla, Falc. ; Brandis 330 ; Gamble 56. Vern. Maslara, Nep. ; 

 Par gin, Lepcha, a small shrub of the Outer Himalaya from the Jumna to Ehutan 

 ascending to 6,000 feet, and of the Khasia Hills. 



Toxocarpus laurifolius, Wight, Kurz ii. 199, is a large climber of the forests 

 of the Pegu Yomah. 



Calotropis contains 2 species. C. gigantea, R. Br. ; Brandis 331 ; Kurz ii. 200; 

 Gamble 56. (Asclepias grgantea,^^^o. Fl. Ind. ii. 30) Vern. Maddr, safed-ak, Hind.; 

 Uk, Sind ; Akand, swetakand, Bang. ; Auk, Nep. ; Yercum, Tarn ; Yekka, Kan. ; 

 Kadrdti, Gondi ; Mayo-beng, Burin., is a large shrub found almost all over India 

 cliielly in waste land. Its inner bark gives a valuable fibre of fine silky texture, 

 which is very strong, and is used for bow strings, fishing nets and lines, and is 

 found to be durable in water. The seeds are surrounded by silky hair, which is said to 

 be made into thread in Borneo. It is difficult to spin, but mixed with one-fifth of 

 cotton it gave, in experiments made by Mr. Monckton in Madras, a good wearing cloth, 

 capable of being washed and dyed. It is well suited for stuffing pillows. The fibre 

 of the stems was found to bear 552 Ibs., against 407 borne by Sunn hemp, (Crotalaria 

 juncea) and 224 Ibs. borne by "coir" (Royle, Fibrous Plants of India, pp. 306 to 310) 

 The wood is made into gunpowder charcoal in Kattiawar and the Dekkan, and the 

 powdered root is used in medicine as an alterative, tonic and emetic. The acrid 

 in ilky juice is also used for various medicinal purposes. C. procera, R. Br. ; Brandis 331 ; 

 Kurz ii. 200. Vern. Spahuakka, Afg. ; Ak, muddr, Hind., is a shrub smaller than 

 the preceding, but found in drier parts of India than it. It is chiefly found in 

 the Sub-Himalayan tract from the Indus to the Jhelum, Oudh, Central India and I he. 

 Dekkan. The fibre, wood, silk from the seeds, and root, are used in the same way as 

 those of C.gigantea. Raphistemma pulcheUum, Wall.; Gamble 58. Vern. Choiffi- 

 brik, Lepcha, is a handsome climber of the North-East Himalaya. 



Gymnema tingens, W. and A.; Gamble 56, occurs inSikkim Hills; and G.acu- 

 minatum, Wall.; Kurz ii. 202, in Chittagong and Tenasserim. Marsdenia contains 4 

 species, most of which give a strong fibre. M. tinctoria, R. Br. ; Brandis 332 ; Kurz 

 ii. 201; Gamble 56 (Asclepias tinctoria, Roxb., Fl. Ind. ii. 43) Vern. Kali Jura. 

 Nep.; Ryom, Lepcha, of the North-East Himalaya and Burma, is a climbing shrub 

 from whose leaves a black or blue dye resembling indigo is obtained. ^Jl/. tena- 

 cissima,W. and A.; Brandis 333; Kurz ii. 201 (AscUpias tenaciisiina\ Roxb. Fl. 

 Ind. ii. 51), a climber of Kumann, Oudh and Behar extending to Chittagong and 

 Ava, gives a beautiful, strong, silky fibre called " Uajmahal filnv'' used for bow- 

 strings. Roxburgh states that a line of it broke with a weight of 248 Ibs. when 



