260 CuClirbltacecB. \Gynostemma. 



C. G-arcini,* Clarke in Fl. B. Ind. ii. 629 (1879). Blochu- 

 mochukay, T. 



Sicyos Garcini, Burm. f. Fl. Ind. 211. Zehneria Garcini, Stocks, Thw. 

 Enum. 125. Blaslania Garcini, Cogn. 1. c. 629. C. P. 1611, 

 Fl. B. Ind. ii. 629. Burm. f. Fl. Ind. t. 57, f. 3 (bad). 



Small, prostrate, stems slender, much branched, glabrous; 

 1. rotundate in outline, small, 1-2 in., palmately cut more than 

 f down into 5 obovate or wedge-shaped obtuse lobes, strongly 

 dentate-serrate, slightly scabrous-hairy on both sides, petiole 

 |-i in., bearing in its axil a stipule-like, large, cordate or 

 reniform bract fringed with very long filiform cilia ; fl. ex- 

 tremely small, male racemes very short, concealed by the 

 bract, pubescent ; pet. oblong, reflexed ; fruit f-J in., wide, 

 flat-topped, smooth, orange; seeds slightly curved. 



Dry country; rather rare. Jaffna; Matalan, E. Prov. (Nevill); 

 Tissamaharama, S. Prov. Fl. Dec-February; white. 



Also in Southern India. 



The original locality where Garcin collected this seems to have been 

 Tuticorin, not Ceylon, though ' Zeylona ' is the locality given. Burm. f. 

 mistook the pectinate bracts for fruit. 



Used by the Tamils as a medicine in quinsy and other affections of 

 the throat. 



16. GYNOSTEMMA, BL 



Perennial, tendrils bifid, 1. compound, fl. dioecious, very 

 small, in lax panicles ; cal.-segm. 5, small ; pet. 5, very 

 acuminate ; male fl. : — stam. 5, fil. connate into a column, 

 anth. quite distinct, cells straight ; fem. fl. : — ov. globose, 

 3-celled, with 2 pendulous ovules in each cell, styles 3, 

 spreading, bifid ; fruit a small berry, 1-3 -seeded ; seed large, 

 worted, furrowed round edge, not compressed. — Sp. 5 (Cog- 

 niaux) ; 1 in Fl. B. Ind. 



G-. laxa, Cogn. Monog. Phan. iii. 914 (188 r). [Plate XLV.] 

 Zanonia Wightiana, Am. Pug. 386. Pestalozzia laxa, Thw. Enum. 

 124. G.pedata, Trim. Syst. Cat. Ceyl. PL 38 (? BL). C. P. 2582. 

 Fl. B. Ind. ii. 633 (G. pedata). 



Stems very long, sometimes slightly woody below, slender, 

 cylindrical, glabrous and shining; 1. 3-foliolate, petiole i-i| in, 

 stout, furrowed above, often twisted and sub-prehensile, 

 glabrous, lflts. 2-4 in., shortly stalked, lanceolate, acute, 

 coarsely serrate, glabrous, rather thick, the middle one rather 

 the largest, the lat. ones either dilated on lower side or 



* Laurent Garcin collected in S. India at the beginning of the 18th 

 century, and his plants are in Burman's Herbarium. He may have also 

 visited the North of Ceylon. Died 1752. 



