ViTis] AMPELIDE^. 171'. 



V. flexuosa, Thunb. forma parvifolia, Planchon in DC. Mon. Phaner V 



348. 



A slender vine with glabrous branchlets. Tendrils bifid. Leaves 2-4 in. 

 long, ovate, acute or acuminate, sharply and deeply serrate, often 3-lobed • 

 base cordate or truncate. Inflorescence leaf -opposed, 2-furcate, consisting' 

 of two divaricating thyrses springing from the apex of a common ped- 

 uncle, much shorter than the leaves. Flowers umbellate, minute, green 

 5-raerous, long pedicelled. Petals cohering at the apex. Style revy short'.' 

 Berry round, black. 



DehraDun (Falconer, King). Distbib.: W. Himalaya from Kashmir to 

 Nepal, up to 6,000 ft. ; also in E. Bengal. Flowers in April and May, 

 and the fruit ripens during thelrainy season. Very similar indeed to the 

 var. glahroi of V. lanata, Eoxb. (see F. B. I. i, 651), and perhaps not 

 specifically distinct, but in V. parvifolia the leaves are usually 3-lobed 

 and the inflorescence is much smaller and shorter, and it is altogether a 

 much more glabrous plant. Dr. Watt describes the fruit as being very 

 sweet and delicately flavoured, and gives to it the name of the 'Himalayan 

 wild vine.' He suggests that many of the small black grapes, sold at hill 

 stations in India, may be derived as cultivated hybrids between the 

 small -fruiting V. parvifolia and the larger-fruiting V. rugosa. 



2, V. vinifera, Linn. 8p.Pl. 202 ; W. Sf A. Prod. 130 ; Royle III 146 - 

 Brand. For. Fl. 98; F. B, I. i, 652 ; DC. L'Orig. PI. Cult. 15; Watt 

 E.D.; Planchon in DC. Mon. Phaner. V 355. Vern. Angur. (The grape* 

 vine.) 



A large woody climber with bifid tendrils. Leaves glabrous above 

 clothed beneath with grey deciduous tomentum, suborbicular, cordate 

 more or less deeply 5-lobed, margin unequally cut into acute teeth. 

 Inflorescence not bifurcate Flowers 5-merous, green, on slender pedicels 

 arranged in umbel-like cymes, which form large pyramidal compound 

 panicles. Bracts caducous. Petals cohering above. 



The grape-vine is cultivated in many gardens within the area, but the 

 fruit rarely comes to perfection owing to the heavy rainfall which usually 

 takes place before it has properly ripened. In 'Kashmir, however, and 

 in other parts of the Western Himalaya, where the fruit ripens much 

 later in the year, the cultivation of this plant might be undertaken with 

 considerable profit. For a fall account of the geographical distribution 

 of the many cultivated varieties of this species the reader is referred to 

 Planchon's Monograph 'of the Ampelidp(B already alluded to. See also 

 Dr. Watt's important Dictionary article. 



3. V. latifolia, Py^oxh. Hart. Beng. 18; Fl. Ind. i. 661 ; W. Sf A. Prod 



130 ; Boyle III. 144; Brand. For Fl. 99 ; F. B. I. i,652 ; Watt E. D. 



V. montana. Laws, in F. B. I. . Ic. Ampelocissus latifolia. Planch, in DC. 



Mon. Phauer. v, 370. Vern. Pdni'hel, musal (Merwara). 



A large climber, quite glabrous except the young portions. Stems 

 hollow, striate. Leaves long-petioled, 3-7 in. long,. orbicular-cordate, 3-7*- 

 angled or -lobed ; lobes dentate ; basal nerves 6. Peduncles long, bifur- 

 cate, one of the branches consisting usually of a slender forked tendril . 



