INDIAN FLOWERS. 517 



Among the gentians, the flowers of Exacum bicolor possess much beauty. Graham 

 declares it to be " worthy of the garden of Paradise." The purple tips of its petals 

 siiine m marked contrast with its large white body arranged on the terminal 

 branches of its square herbaceous stem bearing showy leaves. The flowers of 

 the Bipwnarece as a class are striking for richness of their colour. Here is a speci- 

 men of Waras {Heterophragma RoxbuTghii). Notice the tints marking the throat 

 of the white bi-labiate corolla varying from pink to crimson. The forest tree known 

 as Tetu {Oroxijlon Indicum), bearing the large two-feet pod-like capsules so singular- 

 ly attractive, has a very large showy flov^-er. It is dark crimson outside, cream- 

 coloured, thick velvetty inside, seated on a firm persistent calyx and mostly bloom- 

 ing before the outburst of the monsoons. The PeiaZiwiK are well represented in 

 our country. The Teel plant [Sesamnm Indicum), so commonly cultivated for its 

 rich oily seed, which form one of the stajde articles of our commerce, has a delicately 

 tinted bi-labiate flower only surpassed in beauty and depth nf colour by its conaiener 

 Martyuia diandra — the common Vichvi, which is noted for bearing large black 

 rugose seeds with sharp double-curved persistent hooks, not unlike the black-beetle 

 in appearance. The Convolvulaceee — an order everywhere bearing delicate campa- 

 nulate or tubular flowers, and noted for their exquisite tints — are well represented 

 in this country. What more beautiful can you see in the floral world than the 

 purple-throated Argyreia speciosa (Samiidra-shoka) peeping through its glaucous 

 leaves ? What is more pretty than Ipomaa pes-caprom (Maryada Vel) which trails 

 in profusion along onr sandy shore, throwing out its crimson flowers only to. be 

 lashed by tlie tidal waves ? The f/jomcer/ Qwr/Hioc^jY (Kamalata), though an exotic 

 from America, is as delicate and charming a flower as one could set eyes on, whether 

 it l)e deep crimson or white, seated on a delicate climbing stem by tlie side of the 

 still more delicately-formed pectiuiform leaves. Trace again the Nal plant, 

 Ipomoea vitlfolia, creeping profusely over the surface of our ponds and way-side 

 ditches with its bright rosy or purplish flowers standing erect over their watery bed. 

 You will wonder at this solitary instance of a convolvulus preferring to live and 

 thrive in a watery home. I must not here omit to mention how well the T/iunber- 

 gias, viz., T. fragaiis, T- aluta, and T. gramli^ora, thrive under our Konkan sky. 

 A tiny representative of this order — the Cuscata reflexa known as Akashvel — 

 is worthy of special mention on account of its extremely small white 

 flowers borne in tufts, and more especially on account of the epiphytal 

 nature of the plant. Originally a seed-grower from the ground, it trails along 

 our bushes and hedges, and directly it finds another plant to support it, it 

 winds round its host, and by degrees abandons its subterranean connections. 

 Finally it becomes an absolute aerial grower without in any way damaging the 

 host, as far as I have been able to observe in our jungles. Among the Acanthads, 

 the flowers of AndrograpJiis panniculata (Krcat) are insii^nificant, but prettily 

 marked on the throat with crimson lines. The Eranthemums also are equally 

 pretty in colour and delicate in structure. Let me not here fail to mention the 

 bluish-purple flowers of our common jungle weed HygropMUa spinnsa (Kolsunda) 

 glowing amidst whorls of dark dingy leaves and stiff" long spines which disfigure 

 68 



