465 
are used in Mexico to sweep floors and walls of huts to drive off 
insects and vermin (Kew Bull. 1897, p. 338). 
Àn ornamental plant t easily pies from seed: height about 
2 ft.; has been duüTatod i in English iiu. since 1692. 
Ref. —'* Asclepias curassavica as an Insectifuge," in Kew 
Bull. 1897, p. 338.—-—'' Red-Head or Milky tion Bush 
(Asclepias con '"" Bailey, in Queensland Agric. Journ. 
ii. 1898, p. 437, ** The Wild Ipecacuanha," in The Chemist and 
. Druggist, "1910, p. 798, and in The Agric. News, Barbados, 
Feb. 5th, 1910, p. 38. 
Asclepias lineolata, Schlechter; Fl. Trop. Afr. IV. Sect. 1, 
. 922. 
EM Zungeru, llorin, and widely distributed in Tropical 
Afric 
The roots are used as a stomachie, Shire (Kirk, Herb. Kew). 
A herbaceous ack with fleshy fusiform roots; 4 ft. high, Nupe 
(Barter, Herb. Kew); common in the bush, Zungeru (Dalziel, 
Herb. Kew), Unyoro, 3900 ft. (Brown, Herb. Kew). 
The genus Asclepias i is a large one and perhaps the most impor- 
tant species in Tropical Africa—not known from Nigeria— 
are (1) semilunata, N.,E. Br. Fl. Trop. Afr. l.c. p. 327, the 
** Kafumba”’ or *' Bugumbo ' ' of Uganda which yields a valuable 
Misc. No. 58, 1909, pp. 74-76; No. 9 ull. Im 
Inst. iii. 1905, pp. 316—318; vi. 5. 08) pp. 85-86), (2) a 
Schlechter, F1 Trop. Afr. Le 328), of British East Afr 
Gymnema, R. Br. 
Gymnema sylvestre, À. Br.; Fl. Trop. Afr. IV. Sect. 1, p. 413. 
Il. Wildenow, Phytogr. t. 5, = a so sylvestris); Ann. 
Se. Nat. Paris, Series 2, ix. Lh A (G. rufescens and 
G. subvolubile); Wight, Ic. PI. tad: o6 il. t. 349; Engl. and 
Prantl. Pflan. iv. pt. 2, f. 85 F-G. 
Vernac. name.—Kavali (India, Watt). 
Lagos, Katagum, and widely distributed in West Africa from 
Senegal to the Cameroons, throughout tropical Africa, extending 
frica, Madagascar and India 
The leaves when chewed neutralise the taste of sweetness (Proc. 
Linn. Soc. i. 1849, p. 353; Nature, xxxv. 1887, p. 566; Dict. 
Econ. Prod. India; Dymock, seq.). The root applied as a 
powder to the part bitten and given as a decoction internally, 
13 a reputed Hindu remedy for snake bite, and various medicinal 
uses are attributed to the plant in India (Watt, Dymock, etc., 
sed: 
A climbing | plant, common in the bush, Katagum pose 
Herb. Kew), Lagos (MacGregor, Dawodu, l.c.) a creeper by for 
road, Lagos aba. Ee. 
