274 



GENTJS I. DIOSCOREA. 



Dioecia Hexandrta. Sex: Syst: 



Deriv, Named after-Pedanius Dioscorides, a famous Greek author 

 and physician. 



Gen. Chae. Flowers dioecious : capsule triquetrous, loculicidally 

 3-valved : seeds in the cells twin, surrounded by a membranaceous 

 wing : herbs or shrubs usually twining to the left : the rest as in 

 the order. 



(1) D. SATTFA. (Linn.) 



Ident. Linn. spec. 1463. — Xunth. Enum, pL v. 341. 



Engrm. Rheede Mai. viii. t. 51. — ^Lam. 111. t. 818. 



Spec. Char. Leaves alternate, sub-rotund-ovate, long-cuspidate, 

 sinuate-cordate, glabrous, 9 — 13-nerved, outermost nerves 2-cleft, 

 transverse veins almost simple : stem terete, smooth : male spikes 

 fasciculately panicled, females aggregated, simple, 



Malabar. 



(2) D. tJLABEi. (Roa^.f 



Ident. Roxb. flor. Ind. III. 804. 



Spec. Chab. Twining, glabrous : branches terete, smooth : leaves 

 opposite, ovate-oblong, truncated and rounded at the base or very 

 slightly cordate, acuminate-cuspidate, 7-nerved, membranaceous, 

 glaucescent beneath : male spikes axillary, in three's or four's, or all 

 simple, longer than the petiole, or one in each axU simply branched 

 and very long: branches 8 — 6, sub-flexuose: flowers solitary, sessile: 

 segments of the perianth urceolately connivent, inner ones smaller, 

 sub-.obovate : stamens iaserted at the bottom of the perianth, short. 



/ Silhet. Lower Bengal. Peninsula west of the Ganges. 



(3) D. AiATA, fZinn.J 



Ident. Linn. spec. 1462. — Roxb. 1. c 797. 



Ungrav. Wight's Icon. t. 810. — Rheede Mai. vii. t. 38. 



SpBc. Chah. Rhizome oblong : stems quadrangular, sometimes 

 prickly below : leaves opposite, ovate-oblong, cuspidate, cordate- 

 sagittate, glabrous, 5 — 7 -nerved, outermost nerves 2-parted : male 

 spikes verticillately spiked : flowers green. - 



Both Concans, flowering in the rainy season. 



