472 LXXIV. ASCLEPIADACEiE [Calotropis 



Fl. purplish-lilac or white, inodorous, corolla J-l in. across, lobes spreading or reflexed, 

 buds ovoid. Appendages of corona hairy, much longer than broad. Fibre silky, 

 made into rope, paper and cloth. 2. C. procera, E. Br. Vern. Spalmai, Bal. , Ak, 

 Maddr, Hind , Jelledu, Tel. Common in Sind, the Punjab and in the subhimalayan 

 tract east to the Sarcla river. Drier districts of the Deccan. Dry region of the 

 Irawadi valley. Afghanistan, Persia, Arabia, Syria, Egypt and tropical Africa. 

 L. slightly larger and somewhat less tomentose than 1, fl. with a strong (not unpleasant) 

 smell, purplish-red, corolla campanulate, lobes erect, buds hemispherical. Appendages 

 of corona glabrous, rarely pubescent, nearly as broad as long. 



B. L. narrowed into petiole. 



3. C. Acia, Hamilton, Subhimalayan tract from Dehra Dun eastwards. Maiman- 

 singh. A small shrub or stout herb, 1. glabrous when mature, blade 6-10, pet. 1 in. 



Dittoceras Andersoni, Hook. f. Sikkim outer hills, 2-4,000 ft. A large climbing 

 shrub, bark corky, branchlets, 1. beneath, petioles and pedicels rusty-pubescent. L. 

 ovate, blade 4-5, pet. 1J-2 in. long. Fl. large in sessile umbelliform few-fid. cymes, 

 sepals minute, corolla dark purple, rotate 1J in. across, hairy outside, lobes triangular, 

 corona deeply 5-lobed, lobes oblong, lying flat on the corolla, staminal column minute. 

 Follicles recurved, 4-5 by § in., seeds black 1J in. long. 



7. LEPTADENIA, R. Br. ; FL Brit. Ind. iv. 63. 



Fl. small, in crowded umbelliform cymes, calyx shortly turbinate, lobes 

 much shorter than corolla. Corolla rotate, lobes pubescent or bearded, margins 

 recurved. Staminal column short, girt at the base by a raised undulate ring. 

 Follicles rigid, acuminate, seeds flat, winged, comose. Species about 10, 

 tropical Asia and Africa. 



1. L. Spartium, Wight. Baluchistan. Sind (Kip). Punjab, extending eastwards as 

 far as Agra. Kattiawar. Arabia. Tropical Africa. A small glabrous erect, almost 

 leafless shrub, branches green, 1. few, 3—4 in. long, linear. Corolla J in. across. Follicles 

 3-5 in. long, beak straight long slender. The fibre used in Sind for ropes to draw 

 water from wells. 



2. L. reticulata, "Wight et Arn. ; Wight Ic. t. 350, Kanjilal F. Fl. 244. Northern 

 India near the foot of the hills, from Ambala eastwards. Central India and Western 

 Peninsula chiefly in the dry districts of the Deccan but also on the coast. Ceylon, 

 dry country. A twining shrub, bark of old stems corky, branchlets more or less 

 minutely pubescent. L. ovate or ovate-lanceolate, blade 2-3, pet. J-f in. long. Fl. 

 dirty- or brownish-white, in many-fld. umbelliform cymes, peduncles J-J in. long, 

 pedicels shorter, varying in length. Calyx silky outside, corolla pubescent outside. 

 J-J in. long, tube very short, widening into a cup divided into 5 narrow lobes, the 

 edges reflexed, the tip hairy often inflexed. Follicles generally solitary, hard, straight 

 2-3 in. long, with a short incurved beak. 



Orthanthera viminea, Wight et Arn. ; Eoyle 111. t. 66. Subhimalayan tract, eastwards 

 as far as the Gonda district of Oudh, common in dry watercourses on sand and shingle. 

 Delhi and elsewhere in the plains of North- West India. Merwara. A small erect 

 glabrous leafless shrub, branches green. Fl. dirty-brown, in compact woolly cymes, 

 peduncles J-l in. long, pedicels very short. Sepals linear-lanceolate nearly as long as 

 corolla, corolla jt in. long, tube ovoid, lobes erect, as- long as tube. Minute scales 

 between the corolla-lobes and the starninal-tube girt at the base by an undulate ring. 

 Follicles solitary, 4-6 in. long, compressed, linear, pericarp thin, brown within, seeds J, 

 coma J in. long. Hopes made of the fibre. 



8. HETEROSTEMMA, Wight et Arn. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. iv. 47. 



Twining shrubs or undershrubs, 1. thin, usually with 3-5 basal nerves. 

 Cymes umbelliform or racemiform, sessile or shortly peduncled, pedicels slender. 

 Calyx small, corolla rotate, lobes veined, broad-triangular, valvate in bud. 

 Corona on the base of the minute depressed staminal column, consisting of 5 

 large horizontally spreading lobes. Follicles slender, terete, pericarp thin. 

 Species 10-12, Indian and Malayan. 



A. "Western species. 



1. H. tanjorense, W. et A. : Wight Ic. t. 348. East side of the Peninsula. Ceylon. 

 Glabrous, 1. ovate or ovate-lanceolate, blade 2-A, pet. 1-1J in. long. Corolla J in. across, 



