Dioscorea.~\ CLIV. DIOSCOREACEJ:. (J. D. Hooker.) 289 



by me may have other earlier names in Malayan Flora than I have given ; but the 

 Malayan species are even more loosely described than the Indian. The Wallichian 

 collection is very complete, but the species are often mixed. 



A. Leaves 3-5-foliolate. Capsule in all oblong. Seeds winged at the 

 top. 



SECT. I. Stamens 6, all antheriferous. Pistillode low, broad. 



1. D. daemona, Roxb. FL Ind. iii. 805 ; Wight. Ic. t. 811. D. 

 virosa, Wall. Cat. 5099 ; Kunth Enum. v. 413. D. triphylla Herb. Ham. 

 D. altissima, Herb. Roxb. D. trinervia, Roxb. ex Wall. Cat. 5C99. D. 

 amoena, Roxb. ex Wight, (error, for dsemona,) D. hirsnta, Dennst. Schluess. 

 Hort. Mai. 33. Helmia ? dsemona, Kunth 1. c. 439. Smilax ? narcotica 

 4" virosa, Herb. Ham. ex Wall. Cat. Rheede Hort. Mai. vii. t. 51, 52. 



Tropical forests throughout INDIA, BUBMA, and the MALAY PENINSULA. 

 DISTRIB. Malay Islands, Tonkin. 



Root tuberous, lobed, biennial. Stem stout, terete, more or less prickly. Leaves 

 3-foliolate, long-petioled ; leaflets 3-12 in., glabrous or finely pubescent beneath, 

 all petiolulate, broadly cuneate-obovate, cuspidately caudate-acuminate, sometimes 

 strongly reticulate, lateral very oblique 5-6-nerved, central 3-5-nerved; petiole 6-12 in., 

 smooth or prickly. Male racemes 6-18 in., pubescent or woolly ; spikes - in., shortly 

 peduncled, cylindric, dense-fld. ; bracts shorter than the flowers; sepals orbicular- 

 ovate, membranous, shorter than the coriaceous incurved petals ; anthers subsessile. 

 Fern, -spikes solitary, flowers distant, perianth of -the male. Capsule 2-2| by 

 1 li in., base and top truncately rounded. Seeds with the oblong wing broader 

 than the nucleus. Eoxburgh is^ undoubtedly right in referring Rumph's " Ubium 

 sylvestre " to this, but by oversight cites t. 127 for 128. 



Var. reticulata ; leaves finely reticulate beneath, male racemes much branched, 

 capsule tomentose. D. macrocarpa, Wall. Cat. 5100. 



SECT, IT. Stamens 3 antheriferous, alternating with 3 staminodes. 

 Pistillode columnar. 



2. D. tomentosa? Heyne in Roth Nov. PI. Sp. 371 ; leaves 3-5- 

 foliolate softly tomentose beneath, bracts shorter than the flower. ILoxb. 

 Fl. Ind. iii. 805 ; Wall. Cat. 5001. D. triphylla, Herb. Suss. Helmia ? 

 tomentosa, Kunth JEnum. v. 431. 



The DECCAN PENINSULA, from Canara southwards. CEYLON. 



Hoot (of long tuberous fibres, 1-2 ft. Ic. Thwaites). Stem slender, prickly 

 towards the base. Leaves usually snow-white beneath; leaflets very variable, 2-4 

 in. long, broad or narrow, acuminate or cuspidate, shortly petiolulate, lateral often 

 gibbously oblique. Male spikes -1 in., ternate on the branches of a very slender 

 exuous tomentose panicle; flowers -Jg- in diam., sessile or pedicelled; perianth seg- 

 ments subequal ; staminodes equalling the stamens, nearly as long as the sepals, tips 

 dilated. Capsules 1 in., cuneately oblong, downy. 



3. D. pentaphylla, Linn. Sp. PI. 1032 ; leaves 3-5-foliolate glabrous 

 or sparsely pubescent beneath, bracts shorter than the flowers. Roxb. Fl. 

 Ind. iii. 806; Wight. Ic. t. 814; Wall. Cat. 5098; Thwaites Enu<m. 325; 

 Kunth Enum. 396 ; Dalz. & G-ibs. Bomb. Fl. 247. D. triphylla, Linn. I. c. ; 

 Wall. Cat. 5702; Dalz. & Gibs. I. c. ; Jacq. Ic. t. 627 ; Coll. ii. 365; Kunth 

 I. c. 394. D. Kleiniana, Kunth I. c. 394. D. lunata, Roth Nov. PI. Sp. 370. 

 D. digitata, Mill Gard. Diet. No. 6. Botryosicyos pentaphyllus, Hochst. 

 in Flora 1844 Beil. 3. Hamatris triphylla, Salisb. Gen. PI. Fragm. 12. 

 Rheede Hort. Mai. vii. t. 34, 35. 



VOL. vi. u 



