144 King & Gamble — Flora of the Malayan Peninsula. [No. 4, 



Flora of British India it has been put under A. verticillatum, Wall. — a species origin- 

 ally described by Wallich from the Nepal Himalaya, from which species this differs 

 amongst other things in its larger size and more numerous leaves. 



2. Argostemma pictum, Wall, in Roxb. PL Ind. ed. Carey and Wall. 

 II. 327. A succulent herb 3 to 5 in. high. Stem 1 to 2 in. long, twice 

 as thick as a crow-quill, ebracteate, glabrous. Leaves a single pair at 

 the apex of the stem, membranous, sub-equal, broadly or rotund-ovate, 

 sub-acute or obtuse ; the base broad, sub-truncate or slightly cordate, 

 upper surface blackish-brown when dry, glabrous or with sparse, short, 

 thick hairs, the midrib and nerves faint (when dry) ; lower surface paler, 

 glabrous or with a few coarse hairs on the 4 or 5 pairs of rather straight, 

 ascending, broad, flat main-nerves ; midrib broad, flat ; length 1*5 to 3*5 

 in. ; breadth 1*25 to 2'5 in. ; petiole under '1 in. or none. Stipules 

 lanceolate or ovate, acute, *2 to *3 in. long. Umbel solitary, terminal, 

 on a slender, ebracteolate peduncle, more slender than the stem and from 

 •75 to 2 in. long. Flowers from 8 to 12, drooping in bud, *15 in. long (to 

 the end of the exserted style), on pedicels more than twice as long, with 

 a whorl of small brae fceoles at their bases. Calyx narrowly campanulate, 

 coarsely puberulous, with 5 acute, triangular, erect lobes. Corolla nearly 

 twice as long as the calyx, its 5 lobes oblong, obtuse, reflexed, rather 

 longer than the stamens. Anthers free, oblong, blunt, dehiscing longi- 

 tudinally, not apiculate, the base bifid, the connective behind the cells 

 thickened ; filament short, broad, thick. Style filiform, longer than the 

 anthers : stigma small, capitate. Wall. Cat. 8392 : Benn. PL Jav. Rar. 

 94: Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. II. 43. 



Perak: King's Collector 3105, 3110, 10585, 10586; Scortechini 310; 

 Wray 1202. Penang : Curtis 480. Malacca : Maingay (K.D.) 896. 

 Var. tetraphylla. Leaves in two unequal pairs, or three in a whorl. 

 Perak: Wray 1202. 



3. Argostemma subinequale, Benn. PL Jav. Rar. 95. Glabrous; 

 succulent when fresh, 4 to 8 in. high : stem fleshy when fresh, thinner 

 than a goose-quill, 1*5 to4'5 in. long, ebracteolate. Leaves membranous, 

 only a single pair, somewhat unequal (rarely a whorl of three) broadly 

 ovate-oblong to ovate-elliptic, acute or bluntly acuminate, the base 

 truncate and broad or slightly cuneate ; upper surface brown when dry, 

 glabrous, the nerves and midrib indistinct ; lower surface paler, glabrous 

 except for a few hairs on the broad flattened midrib and 5 or 6 pairs of 

 broad, flat, obliquely ascending main-nerves; length of the longer leaf 4 

 to 6 in. ; breadth 2*5 to 35 in. ; of the smaller leaf 2 to 3 in. ; breadth 

 1*75 to 2 in. ; petioles '1 to *2 in. Stipules lanceolate, '3 to '75 in. long. 

 Cymes umbellate, terminal, solitary or in pairs, pedunculate; peduncles 

 slender, bearing a pair or whorl of lanceolate bracteoles near the middle. 



