4 D, Praia & I. H. Burkill — On Dioscorea deltoidea, etc. [SuppH. 



pedunculus glaber : bractese sub ramulis panicularuin lanceolatse, 3 

 mm. longae, sub glomerulis ovato-lanceolatae pedicellos subaequantes : 

 bracteolse ovato-acuminatee, naviculari-concavse, pedicellis dimidio bre- 

 viores. Perianthii mascuU laciniee ovatae, subacutae, subaequales 

 et subsimiles, patentes. Statnina 6, asqualia, filameatis aequilonga : 

 antheraa filameutis breviores. Spicse feminese axillares, solifcariae, sim- 

 plices, ad 12 cm. longae, dependentes ; flores ad 10-12, sessiles, deor- 

 surn spectantes, circiter 1 cm. remoti : bracteae et bracteolae adsunt. 

 Capstilde sessiles, assurgentes : alae maturae pergamenfcaceae, irregulariter 

 subquadratae, 2 cm. longae, 1 cm. latae, stramineo-corneae, livido 

 suffusae, glaucescentes, majores ad 2*75 cm. longae, ad 1*6 cm. latae. 

 Semina in loculo quoque gemina, complanata, subquadrata, '85 cm. 

 diam.., ala merabranacea alba inaeqaaliter circuracincta. — Dioscorea 

 deltoidea, Hook, f., Fl. Biifc. Ind. YL, (1892), 291, partim. 



Eastern Himalaya. Sikkim : without precise locality, 1000-5000, 

 feet, J. D. HooJcer, No. 7, Herb. Ind. Or. ; Herb. Griffith, 5555; Great 

 Rungeet, 1800-2500 feet, T. Anderson ; Rungeet Valley, Knrz ; Run- 

 geet, 0. B Glarke, 8936; Rungneet Valley, 4000 feet, G^a?n6Ze, 9764 ; 

 Dikiling, 2000 feet, 0. B. Clarke, 9682 ; Naksabari, Gamble, 322 D ; 

 Tukwar, 3000 feet, Gamhle, 9799 ; Pasbok, 7000 feet. Lister ; Mungpoo, 

 Hartless, Gammie, Diingboo, 2000 feet and 3500 feet. King; also 600- 

 3000 feet, King ; Restrop, Prains Collector ; Silake, Frain ; Nagree, 

 3000 feet, T. Anderson ; between Ricbi and Rinchingpong, 2000-2500 

 feet, T. Anderson, Western Duars : Haines, 4187. Nepal : Scully, 34. 



Dioscorea sikJcimensis is the Kencheong or Kukur Turnl of Sikkim. It was 

 included in D. deltoidea in the Flora of British India by Sir Joseph Hooker, It ia 

 indeed closely allied to that species : bnt it differs markedly in the absence of the 

 short crisp simple hairs that are so abundant on the veins and nerves of the under 

 surface of the leaf of D. deltoidea. There are besides other differences : the rhachis 

 of the inflorescence in both sexes of D. sikkimensis is distinctly angled, while that 

 of D. deltoidea in the male is terete and in the female only slightly angled : the 

 fruit is also slightly different in shape ; it is sessile and destitute of purple lines 

 or dots in D. sikkimensis, while that of D. deltoidea is distinctly pedicelled. It ia 

 to be noted that both D. deltoidea and D. sikkimensis occur in Central Nepal, which 

 is the eastern limit of the one and the western limit of the other. 



More closely allied to D. sikkimenais than D. deltoidea, is D. Prazeri. The chief 

 differences between the two are (i) in the male flowers, which in D. Prazeri are 

 sessile and in D. sikkimensis are distinctly pedicelled, (ii) in the seeds, which are 

 of a different colour and shape, and (iii) in the foliage which is chiefly composed of 

 wide cordate leaves in the Burmese plant, though there are leaves on the ultimate 

 branches which are longer than broad as is the usual condition in the Sikkim plant. 

 In D. sikkimensis such leaves as there may be, which are as long as they are broad, 

 are confined to the lower part of the main stem. The male plant of D. Prazeri is 

 often bulbilliferous : tliis is a rare condition in D. sikkimensis. The bulbils of both 



