42 APOCYNACJK^. [ICHNOCABPTJS. 



nerves ; petiole $ in. long. Floivers greenish-white, more or less 

 fragrant. Calyx pubescent ; lobes ovate, acute, minutely glandular 

 inside. Corolla, in. across, twice as long as the calyx ; tube in. 

 long, swollen round the included anthers, throat villous ; lobes ^ in. 

 long, hairy on upper surface, narrowed into a slender twisted acuminate 

 point. Disk-lobes longer than the hairy ovary. Follicles 3-6 in. long, 

 straight or somewhat curved, pubescent when young. Seeds --f in. 

 long, slender, coma as long as the seed. 



Abundant within the area in forests and hedgerows. Flowers Aug. 

 Dec. DISTRIB. Throughout the greater part of India, also in 

 Ceylon and Burma, ascending to 4,000 ft. on the Himalaya ; found also 

 in China, Java and Australia. The roots and leaves are used 

 medicinally, and the twigs are collected for making baskets in the 

 Saharanpur district. 



Thevetia mriifolia, Juss. (Yellow Oleander), a native of Trop. America, 

 is cultivated in gardens over the greater part ef India. It is an 

 evergreen glabrous shrub or small tree with leaves resembling those of 

 the oleander, and the flowers are bright yellow. The milky juice i& 

 extremely poisonous. 



Plumeria acutifolia, Poir. Vern. Gul-dcTiin. This is another introduc- 

 tion, probably indigenous in Mexico. It is a small soft-wooded tree 

 with thick fleshy branches. The fragrant flowers, which open before 

 the leaves have developed, are white with a yellow centre and pinkish, 

 outside. It is often met with in gardens and in the vicinity of temples. 

 The bark and milky juice are used in native medicine. 



LXXIL ASCLEPIADACE^E. 



Herbs or shrubs, generally with milky and acrid juice. Stems 

 simple or branched, usually twining. Leaves mostly opposite,, 

 sometimes wanting, simple, entire, exstipulate. Flowers usually 

 small, regular, 2-sexual, 5-mero'is, often arranged in umbelliform 

 cymes. Calyx inferior, divided nearly or completely to the base ; 

 segments imbricate, usually with minute processes at their bases 

 within. Corolla variously shaped, hypogynous, gamopetalou?,. 

 regular, 5-lobed ; tube within or at its mouth often furnished with 

 a ring of variously shaped scales or processes (the coralline corona). 

 Stamens 5, inserted usually at or near the base of the corolla and 

 alternate with its lobes ; filaments flat, usually connate in a fleshy 

 tube round the ovary (staminal column), the apex of the tube often 

 united to the dilated part of tlie style, and with usually fleshy scales 

 or processes on the back (staminal corona) ; anthers not connate 

 with each other, free or united to the style, 2-celled, margins of 

 anthers or their basal processes more or less horny or wing-like,. 



