172 AMPELIDE^. [Vitis. 



Flowers small, reddisli-l»rown, in small compact thyrsoid cymes ; 'pedicels 

 often equalling the flowers. Petals 5, distinct. Style very short or 

 O. Be^-rij about the size of a currant, black, 2-seeded. Seeds elliptic, 

 margins transversely rugose. 



Dehra Dun and Siwalik range, chiefly in sal forests ; also in Eohilkhand, 

 Oudh, Merwara and Gwalior. Distbib. : Sub.-Himalayan tract from 

 the Sutlej eastwards ; also in Chota Nagpur, C. & S. India. Flowers 

 May to July, and the fruit ripens after the rainy season. The berries 

 are eaten. Eoyle mentions that the roots (kusar) are used medicinally. 



4* v. rugosa, Wall Cat. 5994; Brand. For. Fl. 99 ; King in Journ. As. 

 Soc. Beng.LXy, pt. ii, 111 V. lanata. Wall, {not of Boxb.) ; W. Sf A. 

 Prod. 131 (in part) ; Boyle III. 145 ; Dcne.inJacquem. Voy. Bot,t. 36, 

 V. lanata, var. rugosa, Laws, in F. B. I. i, 651 ; Watt E. D. Ampelocissus 

 rugosa, Planch . in DC. Mon. Phaner. , 376. 



A large climber with stout striated rusty-tomentose branches. Leaves 

 3-8 in. long, coriaceous, ovate or suborbicular, cordate, acuminate, the 

 margin dentate and sometimes 5-angled, minutely rugose and flocose- 

 pubescent above, with dense cinnamon-coloured toinentum beneath, 

 basal auricles rounded, basal nerves 3-5. Cymes on long peduncles, 

 subcorymbosely divided, usually bearing a stout tendril. Petals 5, 

 spreading, caducous. Berry globose, larger than that of V. ^parvifolia. 



Dehra Dun and along the base of the Himalaya eastward to Oudh. 

 Distbib. : Abundant on the Outer Himalaya up to about 5,000 ft,, 

 creeping and climbing over rocks and trees. Flowers from April to June, 

 and the fruit ripens during the rainy season. The fruit yielded by 

 this plant is often sold at hill-stations as wild grapes. Dr. Watt men- 

 tions its peculiar flavour, which might be described as something be- 

 tween a black currant and a grape. See also his remarks under V. 

 parvifolia. It is sometimes called pahdr-^huta (the mountain-splitter)^ 



5. V. indica. Linn. Sp. PI. 202; Boxb. Fl. Ind. i, 660 ; W. Sf A. Prod. 

 13l; Brand. For. Fl. 100; F.B.Li, 653; Watt E.D.; King in Journ. 

 As. Soc. Beng. LXV, pt. ii, 112. V. erioclada, W. Sf A. Prod. 160 ; F. B. I. 

 i, 651. Ampelocissus Arnottiana, Planch, in DC. Mon. Phaner. V, 386. 

 Vern. Jangli-angur. (Indian wild vine). 



Stems stout, cylindrical, floccose-woolly. Tendrils simple , woolly. Leaves 

 3-6 in., broadly cordate-ovate, acute, with a narrow sinus and rounded 

 basal lobes, coarsely glandular-dentate, hard, floccose or glabrous above, 

 rufous- or grey -tomentose, on the veins beneath. Floivers. sessile, in dense 

 clusters, surrounded with rufous wool, arranged on the thick woolly 

 branches of a paniculate cyme. Peduncle 2-3 in., usually with a simple 

 tendril at the base of the cyme. Berry globose, f in. across, smooth, 

 purple. 



Merwara, Bundelkhand (Edgeworth). Distbib. : Central and S. India to 

 Ceylon. The foliage and the bunches of small berries resemble those of 

 the cultivated vine. Dr. "Watt mentions that the plant is often protected 

 on hedges for the sake of its fruit. 



