LEPTADENIA.] ASCLEPIADACJSJS. 6.3 



acuminate, smooth. Seeds como.se Species about 12, in Trop. Asia 

 and Africa. 



A leafy twining shrub 1. L. reticulata. 



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



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

 . D. ; Kanjildl For. Fl. 244 ; Gamble Man. Ind. Timb. 493 ; Cooke Fl. 

 Bomb, ii, 172 ; Brandis Ind. Trees 472. Asclepias tuberosa, Eoxb. Fl. Ind. 

 i, 38. 



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 --f in. long. Flowers pale-brown, 

 in many-uowered lateral or subaxillary umbeliiform cymes ; peduncle 

 i in. long, ften in pairs, puberulous, pedicels shorter. Calyx silky 

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

 ments. Corolla pubescent outside, -g--^ * n lon ff> tube very short ; lobes 

 thick, ovate-oblong, subobtuse, margins re volute, tips often reflexed 

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

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

 very hard, smooth and whitish. Seeds about 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 t 64 ; 



Watt B. D. ; 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, subsessile, 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, narrowed at the 

 base, glabrous. Seeds in. long, narrowly lanceolate, coma 1-li 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. DISTBIB.: 

 Westwards through the Punjab Plain and Eajputana to Baluchistan, 

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



