Orthanthera.] LV. ASCLEPIADE^E. 335 



culate axillary umbelliform cymes of 3-6 flowers. Peduncles, pedicels, 

 calyx, and corolla villous with long soft hairs. Calyx parted nearly to 

 the base into 5 linear-lanceolate segments, as long as corolla-tube. Cor- 

 olla campanulate, tube cylindric, longer than the oblong, erect segments, 

 which are valvate in bud. No corona, but the staminal tube girt at the 

 base by an undulate ring. Pollen-masses 10, stipitate, erect. Follicles 

 compressed, linear, glabrous, erect, 4-5 in. long. 



1. 0. viminea, Wight ; Jacq. Voy. Bot. t. 115. Vern. Mowa, lanebar, 

 Trans-Indus ; Matti, Bias ; Khip, Delhi ; Kip, Sindh ; Chapkia, Kamaon ; 

 Mdhur, Baraich, Gonda. 



Grows 3-6 ft. high, with erect branches. Fl. March, April. Trans-Indus, 

 Sindh, Panjab, the Doab, sub-Himalayan tract, ascending to 2000 ft., eastwards 

 known as far as the Baraich and Gonda forests in Oudh, where it is abundant 

 in the beds of streams, and where the flower-buds are eaten as a vegetable, 

 cooked or raw (R. Th.) Rope is made of the fibre, after 4 or 5 days' steeping. 



Order LVI. BORAGINEiE. 



Herbs, usually with rough hairy leaves, or trees and shrubs, glabrous 

 or hairy. Leaves alternate, rarely opposite, usually undivided, without 

 stipules. Inflorescence definite ; flowers in 1 -sided (scorpioid) spikes or 

 racemes, rolled back when young, and often forked or dichotomous, or in 

 more or less compound, often irregular cymes. Calyx free, persistent, 

 lobes or teeth 5, rarely 4 or 6, valvate in bud. Corolla gamopetalous, 

 hypogynous, segments as many as those of the calyx, imbricate or indu- 

 plicate in the bud. Stamens inserted in the corolla-tube, as many as 

 corolla-lobes, and alternate with them ; anthers 2-celled, the cells usually 

 opening in longitudinal slits. Ovary free, of 2 carpels, entire or 4- rarely 

 2-lobed, 2-celled, with 1 or 2 ovules in each cell, or 4-8-celled, with 1 

 ovule in each ; style simple or 2-4-fid, terminal or inserted between the 

 lobes. Fruit a drupe or dry, and separating into 4, rarely 2, 1- seeded 

 nuts. Seed with a thin testa, albumen none or scanty, embryo straight, 

 radicle short. Royle 111. 303, 306 {Cordiacece) j Wight 111. ii. 208. 



Style twice forked ; drupe with 1 kernel . . . .1. Cordia. 



Style bifid ; drupe with 2-4 kernels 2. Ehretia. 



Style undivided ; berry with 4 kernels .... 3. Rhabdia. 



This Order is here accepted in its wider sense, including Cordiacece, which is 

 often regarded as a separate Order. It is divided into four great tribes : 1 . Cor- 

 diece, 2. Ehretiece, with undivided ovary, terminal style, and indehiscent, often 

 fleshy 4-seeded fruit. In Cordiece the style is twice forked, in Ehretiece 2-lobed 

 {Ehretia), rarely undivided {Rhabdia). 3. Heliotropiece, ovary often lobed, but 

 style terminal, fruit dry, often separating into several 1-seeded cocci. To this 

 group belongs the sweet-scented Heliotrope {H. peruvianum, Linn.), from the 

 Andes of South America, which thrives so luxuriantly on the Nilgiris and in 

 South Europe. 4. Boragece, the ovary of 2, generally 4, distinct lobes, the style 

 in the middle between them. To this group belong numerous annual or per- 

 ennial herbaceous plants of Europe and Central Asia, of which the Borage, 

 Bugloss, and the Forget-me-not are well-known examples. 



