646 



Plants of the Punjab. 



LEAFLESS PLANTS, 

 Herbs. 

 Petals united. 



Boucerosia 

 Aucheriana, 



Charungli, famanl^e. 



ASCLEPIADACEJE. 



F. B. I. iv. 78. 

 Dry hills, east of 

 the Jhelum. 

 The Salt Eange. 



perennial, leafless, stems erect, fleshy, thick, 4-angled, 

 angles toothed, 2-6 in. high, branches ^--| in. diam. ; flowers 

 I in. diam., purple, in heads, calyx lobes 5, narrow, ovate- 

 lanceolate, corolla wheel-shaped, deeply divided, lobes 5, 

 lanceolate, hairless, pustular above, a narrow ring (corona) 

 within the corolla, 5-lohed, united to the column, lobes 

 2-fid, awl-shaped, with a linear fleshy projection on the 

 inner surface, inflexed over the anther, column minute, 

 stigma 5-angled, low, conical ; follicles 2, 3-4 in., slender, 

 straight, tips rounded, seeds flat, winged, with a tuft of 

 hair. This plant is considered stomachic, tonic, and car- 

 minative. 



Cuscuta reflexa, 

 Dodder, 



Nilathari, zarhuti. 



CoiSIVOLVULACE^. 



F. B. L iv. 225. 

 •The Plains to 

 6,000 ft. 



Mash bra, Fagu, 

 Matiana (CoUett). 

 Sanawar. 



annual, parasitic, leafless, stems twining, thread- 

 like, attached by minute disks, succulent ; flowers J-| in., 

 long, yellow, waxy white, fragrant, shortly stalked in many 

 small racemes or clusters, calyx 5-lobed, lobes ^\ in., ovate, 

 blunt, corolla J-| in., lobes 5, short, triangular, reflexed, 

 stamens 5, attached near the throat of the corolla tube, 

 stigmas 2, sessile, diverging, long, short-pointed : capsule 

 J-| in., fleshy, round, 4-seeded. The seeds are used as a 

 carminative medicine. The seeds germinate in the ground 

 as soon as the young plant has reached a host, suckers 

 penetrate the bark of the host, the root of the parasite 

 then dies and it lose^ its connection with the soil. 



Cuscuta chinensis, 



CONVOLVULACE^. 



F. B. L iv. 226. 

 Himalaya, 

 6-7,000 'ft , 

 west of the Sutlej. 

 Kashmir, Chamba, 



like the last species, but styles 2, long, stigmas round, 

 corolla lobes lanceolate, longer pointed, not reflexed. 



Cuscuta capitata, 



CONVOLVULACE^. 



F. B. L iv. 227. 

 Hima'ava, 

 6-12,000 ft, 

 Kashmir to Simla. 



like (he last species, but stems pink, flowers much 

 smaller, in heads, corola ovoid, covered without, with 

 minute papillae, styles long, stigmas equally long. 



