38 xcv. AscLEPUDEJi. (J. D. Hooker.) IPergularia. 



Follicles lanceolate, terete, rather turgid. Seeds ovate, concave.— Disteib. 

 Species about 10 ; Asiatic and African. 



The excessively sweet-scented P. odoratissima, Smith (Icones Pictae, t. 15), is stated 

 to he Indian, but the plant so called by Eoxburgh, Wight, &o., is P. minor. Smith's 

 figure exactly resembles P. pailida, -which is nearly scentless. 



* Pollen-masses elongate-clavate or suhcylindric. 



1. P. pallida, Wight Sr -Am. Contrib. 42 ; leaves ovate-cordate acuminate, 

 flowers scarcely fragrant, corolla yellowish white, lobes linear much larger than 

 the tube which is glabrous within, coronal scales with broad points not spurred 

 behind. Wall. Cat. 8181 ; Wight Ic. t. 585 ; Brand. For. Fl. 334 ; Kurz For. 

 Fl. ii. 203 ; Bene, in DC. Prodr. viii. 619. P. coromandeliana and P. montana. 

 Bene. I. c. Asclepias pallida, Roxh. Hort. Beng. 20, and Fl. Ind. ii. 48. 



Tbopicai, Himalaya; from Mm:ree ascending to 5000 ft. eastward to Sikkim and 

 southward on the plains to Bombay and Centrax India, Behar and Biema. 



Except by the absence of the sweet scent and pale flowers I do not know how 

 this can be distinguished from Smith's figure and description of P. odoratissima. 

 Follicles in Eoxburgh's figure 6 in. long and 1 broad (1^ as drawn partially open), 

 lanceolate. Seeds ^ in. long, broadly ovate. 



** PoUen-masses glohosely ohovoid or obscurely broadly obconic. 



2. P. minor, Andr. Bot. Rep.t. 184 ; leaves orbicular or ovate cordately 

 :2-lobed acuminate, flowers very fragrant yellow or green, corolla-lobes oblong > 

 about equalling the tube or shorter, tube pubescent above within, coronal 

 scales double inner with a long subulate point. Bot. Mag. t. 755. P. odora- 

 tissima, Wight Contrib. 43, and Ic. t. 414. Kurz For. Fl. ii. 203. Asclepias 

 ■odoratissima, Roxb. Sort. Beng. 20 ; and Fl. Ind. ii. 46 ; Wall. Cat. 8182 ; 



Grah. Cat. Bomb. PI. 120. 



Cultivated or native throughout India, and the Eastern Islands, China and Japan ; 

 native of the Himalaya {Brandis). Tsegai hills in Ava, Griffith. 



Though confounded with P. odoratissima, this appears to be perfectly distinct in 

 the smaller flowers and short broad corolla-lobes. Follicles lanceolate, 3 in. long 

 by f in. diam. ; pericarp thick, glabrous. Seeds 1 in. long, broadly ovate. — The 

 ■coronal scales vary excessively in length acuteness aad in the comparative length 

 ■of the outer and inner divisions. 



3. P. puberula, Miquel Fl. Ind. Bat. ii. 495 ; leaves ovate or oblong- 

 ovate acuminate, base rounded or cordate, sepals broadly ovate, corolla pubes- 

 cent without and within, lobes linear longer than the tube, coronal scales 

 laterally compressed 2-winged dorsally below produced into an inflexed subu- 

 late point exceeding the anthers. 



Penang, Phillips. — Distrib. Java. 



Habit of P. pallida, irora which the short sepals, pubescent corolla, and laterally 

 much-flattened scales which project far outwards from the column, and the form of 

 the pollen-masses, at once distinguish it. 



34.STEPKANOTXS, Thmiars. 



Tvidning glabrous shrubs. Leaves opposite, coriaceous. Cymes umbelUform, 

 axUlary; flowers large, white. Calyx 5-partite, segments large. Corolla 

 coriaceous, tubular or salver-shaped, tube cylindric, base swollen ; lobes tvidsted, 

 overlapping to the right. Coronal scales in the Indian species (in others 

 adnate to the anthers, erect, -dorsally flattened). Column very short ; anthers 

 with an inflexed tip; pollen-masses one in each cell, erect, waxy, shortly 



