312 oiiVi. LiLiACB^. (J. D. Hooker.) {Smilax. 



margined, contracted at the base near to which the slender costEB unite, they are 

 thin shining with finely reticulate nervnles ; the petiole is f in. long, sheathing about 

 i way up, and articulate at the tip. In the Maingay specimen the leaves are 

 detached, 6 by 3 in., broadly oblong rounded at the tip, very coriaceous ; the costse 

 are much stouter, they match well the older leaves of Griffith's specimen. In both 

 the umbels are numerous along the rigid branches. Umbels 1-3 on a stout 

 common peduncle as long as the petiole or longer ; peduncles J- 1 in. stiff; pedicels 

 3-5, also stiff. Berries nearly 1 in. diam. j seeds 3, orbicular, \ in. diam., biconvex. 

 — Were it not that Griffith's specimen is labelled Khasia by his own hand, 1 should 

 have suspected some error in the habitat. In the Perak specimens the male fl. branches 

 are elongate, leafy upwards, and the upper umbels axillary, the lower arise from 

 leafless scales ; peduncles \-\ in., pedicels i in. ; bracteoles minute. 



y Umbels more than three alternate or whorled over the rachis of a 

 common peduncle. 



30. S. prolifera, Boxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 795 ; branches stout terete 

 prickly, leaves 4-8 by li-6 in. from ovate acnminate to orbicular-ovate 

 or oblong cuspidate 3-7-costate from above the rounded or subcordate 

 base, petiole 1-2 in. sheathing portion usually forming two large basal 

 amplexicaul erect or refleied auricles, racemes elongate, umbels 10-20 

 3-nate or whorled many-fld. Wall. Gat. 5124, A, B, D (in part) E, G, H ; 

 Kunth Enuwi. v. 247 (excl. syn. ovalifolia). S. laurifolia, Hoxh. I. c. 793. 

 S. laurina, Eunth I.e. 248. S. ovalifolia, A.DG. Monogr. Smilax, 199 

 (not of Boxb.). ? S. macrophylla, Balz. Sf Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 246. S. 

 macrophylla, var. polycephala, A.DG. I. c. 194. S. umbellata, Serb. 

 Heyne, 



Tropical Western Himaiata ; Kumaon, Strachey ^ Winterbottom (Smilax 

 Nos. 6, 7). Nepal, Wallich. Silhet, Bengal, Behar, Burma, the Deccan 

 Peninsula and Ceylon. 



Stem stout, more or less strongly armed, climbing. Leaves extremely 

 variable in form and size; costse 8-7, the three inner united above the base; 

 sheath of petiole very variable, sometimes exactly as in S. Roxburghiana, at others very 

 narrow. Umbels 30-40.fld. ; peduncles |-li in., pedicels i in. j bracteoles minute ; 

 flowers very small ; sepals i in., oblong-lanceolate ; petals as long, very narrow, both 

 often breaking off above the base in the fern. fl. ; stamens as long as the sepals ; 

 filaments slender ; staminodes of fem. fl. 3 ; ovary oblong ; stigmas large, long, 



erect, very deciduous. Berries red, the size of a pea. Seeds small, biconvex. De 



CandoUe certainly errs in referring this to 8. ovalifolia, Roxburgh's drawings and 

 descriptions are very precise. The ovalifolia var. nermlosa, A.DO. 1. c. 200 from 

 Ceylon (Walker, a solitary male specimen) is possibly a different species ; the 

 leaves are 3i by li-2 in., elliptic, oblong, apiculate, with 3 costa meeting at the 

 base, the petiolar sheaths form tumid auricles nearly i in. long and at basal the 

 racemes are shorter, the flowers rather larger, and pedicels shorter than in true 

 prolifera. Var. parviglola, A.DO. 1. c. 200 (a solitary male specimen) resembles 

 nervulosa m foliage, but has smaller petiolar sheaths, small panicles of minute 

 flowers with sepals and narrow petals ^ij in. long ; it is, I think, a verv difierent 

 species; its habitat is doubtful, being in a miscellaneous collection of" Griffith's 

 supposed to be from B. Bengal (numbered 545, Kew Distnb.), but bearing also a 

 ticket inscribed "Smilax stipulacea," which much resembles a Calcutta Bot Gard 

 one. Of var. polystemon A.DC. from Burma Kure. (n. 2636) with 8-9 stamens 

 I know nothing; S.ferom is the only polystemonous Indian species that I have 

 exammed. 



., A'- S- leucophyUa, 5Z«»«e A«m. 18 A, ; branches terete, leaves 

 b-8 by i-Ai m. ovate or oblong 3-5-costate from above the cuneate rounded 

 or subcordate base coriaceous glaucous beneath, petiole 1-11 in with two 



