Ills.] XXVI. AMPELIDE^E. 101 



Himalaya, 3000-9000 ft. (in Sikkim, to 11,000 ft.), from Kashmir to Assam 

 Kasia hills, Pulney hills, Burma. Fl. April, May. Hardy in England. 



9. V. carnosa, Wall. ; W. & A. Prodr. 127. Syn. Cissus carnosa, Roxb. 

 Fl. Ind. 409. 



A large climber, with herbaceous compressed stem, from a perennial root- 

 stock. Young parts clothed with short pubescence. Leaves trifoliolate, 

 rough ; leaflets ovate or elliptic, the two lateral short-stalked, nearly ses- 

 sile, often oblique, crenate-serrate, main lateral nerves 4-6 pair ; stipules 

 oblong. Flowers tetramerous, greenish white, in trichotomous, compound, 

 leaf-opposed cymes ; peduncles generally longer than common petiole of 

 the opposite leaf. Petals distinct. Berries black, 2-4-seeded. 



Common in hedges and forests in most parts of India and Burma, as far north 

 as the Salt range and the Indus in the Panjab. Fl. July, Aug. 



10. V. lanceolaria, Wall. ; W. & A. Prodr. 128. Syn. Cissus lanceo- 

 laria, Roxk Fl. Ind. i. 412. 



A large, evergreen, climbing shrub, glabrous, only inflorescence pu- 

 bescent. Stems woody, with rough often muricated bark ; tendrils leaf- 

 opposed. Leaves trifoliolate, coriaceous ; leaflets ovate or lanceolate, peti- 

 olulate, penniveined, 3-5 in. long, distantly serrate, acuminate. Flowers 

 unisexual, pale yellow, tetramerous, in axillary, subsessile, dichotomous, 

 compound cymes. Petals distinct. Fruit ovoid, J in. long. 



South India, Oudh forests. Fl. March, April. 



A trifoliolate vine is described by Madden, 1. c. 379, 418, as V. tomentosa 

 (Vern. Chajmertang, chappertain, cheprain, amila), with red flowers, similar 

 to those of V. rugosa. " Very common, reaching to 6000 ft. in Kamaon." V. 

 capreolata, Royle 111. i. 149 (Cissus capreolata, Don ; Royle 111. t. 26) ; Vern. 

 Pang pata, Kamaon ; is a slender climber, with pedate, 5-foliolate, glabrous 

 leaves, common in the N.W. Himalaya, 4000-7000 ft. " Clinging to the trunks 

 of trees as closely as the ivy " (Royle). 



2. LEEA, Linn. 



Herbs or shrubs, branches generally furrowed. Leaves alternate, rarely 

 opposite, simple pinnate bipinnate or tripinnate ; petioles with broad 

 sheathing base. Flowers in compound cymes ; peduncles leaf-opposed ; 

 no tendrils. Calyx 5-dentate. Petals 5, more or less cohering at the 

 base, and adhering to the staminal tube. Stamens 5 ; anthers on short 

 filaments, inserted on the outside of an entire or 5-cleft staminal tube. 

 Ovary inserted on the disc, 3-6-celled ; style short ; one ovule in each cell. 

 Fruit a 3-6-celled berry. Seeds erect ; embryo small in a cartilaginous 

 albumen. 



Several species of this genus are large perennial herbs or herbaceous shrubs, 

 characteristic of certain descriptions of forests in India. The following are found 

 in the sub-Himalayan tract of N.W. India : 



Leaves pinnate, or the lower only bipinnate. 



Peduncle as long as cyme, or shorter . . . 1. L. aspera. 



Peduncle several times longer than cyme . . 2. L. alata. 



All leaves bipinnate . . . . . 3. L. sambucina. 



Leaves simple . . . . . . 4. L. macrophylla. 



