100 CONYOLVULACE^:. [CuscuTA. 



Corolla more or less cam pannlate, calyx- 

 lobes never aristate, stamens included . 11. IPOM^A. 



Corolla more or less salver-shaped, calyx- 

 lobes usually aristate, stamens exserted 12. CALONYCTION. 



Fruit indehiscent, coriaceous or fleshy. 



Fruit woody, corolla salver-shaped, stig- 

 mas linear-oblong . . . .13. EIVEA. 



Fruit mealy or fleshy, corolla funnel- 

 shaped, stigmas globose. 



Ovary 4-celled 14. ARGTREIA. 



Ovary 2-celled 15. LETTSOMIA. 



1. CUSCUTA, Linn.; Fl. Brit. Ind. iv, 225. 



Leafless twining parasitic herbs, yellow or reddish. Flowers in 

 fascicles, small, white or rose-coloured, sessile or shortly pedicelled ; 

 bracts none or small. Sepals 5 or 4, subequal, distinct or shortly 

 connate at the base. Corolla ovoid, globose or campanulate ; lobes 5 

 or 4, short, imbricate, usually with fimbriate or lobed scales near the 

 base or below the stamens. Stamens 5 or 4, inserted on or below 

 the throat of the corolla ; filaments short, linear; anthers oblong, 

 shortly exserted. Ovary more or less completely 2 -celled, styles I or 

 2, stigmas 2, ovules 2 in each cell. Capsule globose or ovoid, dry 

 or succulent, circumsc'ss or irregularly bursting, 4-2-seeded. Seeds 

 glabrous, albumen fleshy ; embryo slender, spiral. Cotyledons none 

 or obscure. Species about 90, in tropical and temperate regions. 



C. reflexa, Roxb. Cor. PI. ii, 3, t. 104; FL Ind. i, 446-, F.B.I.iv, 

 225 ; Watt E. D. ; Kanjilal For. Fl. 252 ; Gamble Man. Ind. Timb. 505 ; 

 'Collett Fl. Siml. 339, fig. 107 ; Prain Beng. PL 723 ; Coolie FL Bomb . ii, 

 224. C. anguina, Edgew. Vern. Akds-bel. (Dodder.) 



Stems long, branching, closely twining, glabrous ; branches stout, fleshy, 

 forming dense yellow masses on low trees and shrubs. Flowers 

 5-merous, solitary or in clusters or shortly racemose, pedicels short, 

 usually curved, often verrucose, rarely none ; bracts small, fleshy, 

 subquadrate. Calyx divided almost to the base ; segments ovate- 

 obtuse. Corolla white, deciduous j tube in. long, almost cylindrica 1 ; 

 lobes short, triangular, acute, reflexed ; scales prominent, attached near 

 the base of the corolla-tube, fimbriate, incurved at the apei. Style 

 simple, very short ; stigmas large, distinct, diverging. Capsule - in. 

 in diam., depressed-globose, circumscissile near, the base. Seeds 2-4, 

 large. 



