68 xcv. ASCLEPIADE^. (J. D. Hooker.) \_Ceropegia* 



From WESTERN INDIA; the Punjab and Upper Gangetic plain as far east as 

 Allahabad, southwards to Travancore. 



Root tuberous. Stem very slender. Leaves excessively variable (see the varieties). 

 Peduncles -1 in., 3-5-fld. ; pedicels short. Sepals in. long. Corolla rarely 1 in. 

 long, greenish, base moderately inflated mouth obtusely 5-angled; lobes ^-^ the 

 length of the tube, purple within. Follicles 4 in. long, slender, terete, pericarp thin. 

 Seeds ^ in. long, linear-oblong, wing membranous. 



VAR. 1. bulbosa proper; leaves petioled 1-2 in. rarely more orbicular oblong 

 elliptic obovate or obcordate acute or apiculate, rarely elliptic lanceolate, base acute 

 rounded or cordate. C. bulbosa, Roxb. I.e., Wight Contrib. 32, and Ic. t. 845, and in 

 Hook Bot. Misc. ii. 99 and Suppl. t. 2 ; Wall. Cat. 8141 ; Dale. $ Cribs. Bomb. FL 

 153; Grah. Cat. Bomb. PL 117 ; Done, in DC. Prodr. viii. 643. 



VAR. 2. Lushii', leaves subsessile very narrowly linear 4-8 by - in. C. 

 Lushii, Grah. in Bot. Mag. t. 3300 ; Dale. $ Gibs. Bomb. FL 154 ; Grah. Cat. Bomb. 

 PL 117; Dene. I.e. 644. Bombay, in the Kasersaya jungles, Dr. Lush. 



VAR. 3. esculenta, leaves 4-5 by 1 in. shortly petioled linear-lanceolate. 0. 

 esculenta, Edgew. in Journ. Linn. Soc. v. 204 ; Aitchison Cat. Punjab. PL 90. Punjab 

 and Mooltan. 



8. C. Wig-htii, Graham in Sot. Mag. t. 3267 ; leaves subsessile or shortly 

 petioled elliptic-lanceolate apiculate or acute, corolla-tube slender, lobes linear 

 from a triangular base, corona glabrous, lobes 5 minute obtuse, processes short 

 broad curved. Wight Contrib. 30 j Dene, in DC. Prodr. viii. 641. 



EAST INDIES, formerly cult, in the Edinburgh Bot. Gardens. 

 Probably a form of C. bulbosa, from Bombay. 



* Stem twining, stout. Leaves very small or 0. 



9. C. jtmcea, Roxb. Cor. PL i. 12, t. 10; quite glabrous, fleshy, leaves if 

 present elliptic-lanceolate acute, calyx small, corolla funnel-shaped above the 

 middle, lobes erect nearly as long as the tube. Wight Contrib. 30 ; Wall. Cat. 

 8134 ; Dalz. fy Gibs. Bomb. FL 153 ; Grah. Cat. Bomb. PL 117 ; Dene, in DC. 

 Prodr. viii. 641. 



DECCAN PENINSULA, from Bombay and the Circars to Tanjore and Mysore. 



Root tuberous. Stem simple, as thick as a goose-quill. Leaves very remote, 

 often suppressed, rarely 1 in. long, subsessile. Peduncle stout, |-1 in., 3-5-fld.; 

 pedicels short, stout. Sepals % in., subulate. Corolla greenish, speckled and veined 

 with purple, base inflated, lobes linear from a triangular base, tips fimbriate within. 

 Coronal lobes 10, short, ovate, obtuse, ciliate ; processes filiform with hooked tips. 

 Follicles 7 in. long. 



**** Stem twining, leafy. Leaves membranous. Flower 1 in. long and 

 upwards, rarely less. 



t Corolla-lobes much shorter than the tube, very broad, forming a hemi- 

 spherical or broadly conical crown over the much-dilated broadly funnel-shaped 

 throat of the tube. Corolla curved, base much inflated in all. 



10. C. eleg-ans, Wall, in Bot. Mag. t. 3015, and Cat. 8135 ; quite gla- 

 brous, leaves ovate or ovate-lanceolate, corolla-lobes broadly ovate acute ciliate 

 with very long hairs, coronal lobes 10 subulate or linear glabrous almost as 

 long as the straight linear processes. Wight Contrib. 31, and Ic. t. 1265 j Dene, 

 in DC. Prodr. viii. 642. ? C. sphenanantha, Wight $ Arn. Contrib. 31 ; Wall. 

 Cat. 8138 ; C. sphenanthera, Dene. I. c. 643. 



MALABAR and TRAVANCORE, on the mountains from the Nilgherries southwards. 

 CEYLON, alt. 3000 ft., Walker, &c. 



Leaves 2-4 by l-l|-in., acute or acuminate; petiole f-1 in., very slender. Peduncles 

 |-2 in. ; flowers subumbellate ; pedicels short ; bracts subulate. Sepals filiform, 



