xLiii. AMPELiDE^. (M. A. Lawson.) 645 



Scandent sTirabs, usually' bearing tendrils. Flowers racemose or 



cymose. Ovary 2-celled, cells 2-ovuled 1. Vitis. 



Flowers sessile on the dilated membranous peduncle .... 2. Ftebisaktheb. 



Erect shrubs destitute of tendrils. Petals and stamens connate 



with the disk. Ovary 3-6-oelled, cells 1-ovuled 3. Leba. 



1. VXTXS, Linn, 



Sarmentose shrabs, climbing, usually by means of leaf -opposed tendrils, 

 rarely rooting. Leaves simple or 3-9-ioliolate and then digitate or pedate, 

 rarely pinnate or bipinnate. Flowers umbellately- paniculately- racemosely- 

 or ^icately-cymose, usually ebracteate, . sometimes polygamous. Calyx 

 short, entire, or 4-5-toothed or -lobed. Petals 4^6, free or cohering at the 

 apex. Stamens 4-5, inserted below the margins of the disk ; anthers free. 

 Ovary 2- very rarely 3-4-eelled; style or short ;, ovules 2 in each ceU. 

 Berry ovoid or globose, 1-2-celled ; cells 1-2-seeded. — Distkib. About 230 

 species growing mostly in the tropics and subtropics of Asia, Africa and 

 Polynesia, more rarely in America. 



Sect. L Leaves simple, 



* Petals and Stamens 4. 



t Flowers umhellatdy-cymose. 



§ Stems and branches acutely angled or mnged. {See 7, diffusa.) 



1. V. quadran^ularis, Wall. Cat. 5992 ; stems 4-winged very thick 

 fleshy greatly contracted at the nodes. W. & A. Prodr. 125 ; Wight Jc. 

 t. 51 ; Brand. For. Fl. 100. Cissus edulis, Dalz. in Hook. Lond. Jowm. 

 Bot. ix. 248 ; Bale. & Gibs. Bomh. Fl. 40 ; Thwaites Enum,: 62. C. quad- 

 rangularis, lAnn. Mant. 39 ; Roxh. Fl. Ind. i. 407 ; DC. Prodr. i. 628 ; 

 Grah. Gat. Bomb. PL 33 ; Dale. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 39. Sselanthus qua^ 

 diagonous, Farsk. Bescr. 33, t. 2. — Bheede Sort. Mai. vu. t. 41, 



Throughout the hotter parts of India, from the foot of the Western Himai-atas in 

 Knmaon to Ceyi.oh and Malacca. — Disteib. Java, East Africa. 



Stems glabrous, often of a great length, sometimes nearly leafless. Leaves l-lj in., 

 broadly cordate or reniform or 3-5-lobed, crenate-serrate, glabrous. Cymes small, 

 shortly peduncled, glabrous. Style conspicuous, slender, stigma small. Berry globose, 

 red, succulent, the size of a pea, very acrid. — The stems are frequently eaten by, the 

 natives of Ceylon in their curry. 



2. V. ^lyptocarpa, Thwaites Fnum. 62 (Cissus)^ branches slender 4- 

 mnged, leaves 2-3 by l-lf in. truncate-cordate acuminate glabrous above, 

 nerves beneath with a few appressed hairs. 



Cevlon ; hot drier parts of the Island, Thwaites. 



Leaves serrate ; petiole J-li in. Cymes 3-5-rayed, longer than the petioles, glabrous. 

 Flowers small, rufescent. Petah acute, reflexed. Style conspicuous. I'ruit i in., 

 oblong, 1-seeded, blackish-purple. 



3. v. sagittifolia, Laws. ; very glaucous, stems 4-angled or -winged 

 flaccid not contracted at the joLats,^ leaves cordate-sagittate peltate. V. 

 glaberrima, Wall. Gat. 5991 impart; W. & A. Prodr. 125. CSssus hastata, 

 Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. Suppl. 517. 



Eastern Pehinsula; Sincapore, Wallich; Penang, Porter; Malacca, Griffith.— 

 Disteib. Java. 



