Marsclenia] LXXIV. ASCLEPIADACBiE 471 



Corolla I ill cliaBi., tube globose, lobe& yillotis withirij coroua-lobes acute, muoli longer 

 than btaminal-column. 



y. Style longer than staniinal-column, apex bifid. 



6. M. lucida, Eclgew. Tern. JDudhi, Hind. Kumaon, in sliady valleys. Oudk Forests- 

 A large evergreen climber, branchlets, petioles, 1. beneath and inflorescence finely 

 pubescent. L. thinly coriaceoub, elliptic or ovate, palf^ beneath, blade 3-5, pet. ^-1^ in* 

 El. purple, bcented, sepals densely liirbute, less than half the length of corolla. Corolla 

 I in. long, lobes hairy within, shorter than tube. Follicles 5 in. long, stout, pericarp 

 thickly coriaceous. 7. M. GriffitMi, Hook, f . Khasi hills. Glabrous, excejjt the slightly 

 puberulous cymes, fl. greenish-yellow, sepals ciliate, half the 1. of corolla. 



(b) Corolla much less than | in. long. 



8. M, tinctoria, E. Br. ; Wight Ic. t. 589. Sikkim 2-3,000 ft. Assam. Khasi hills. 

 Prome district (Kurz). Tonkin. China. Malay Penins. and Archip. A tall climber, 

 nearly glabrous. L. membranous, turning dark blue when dry, ovate from a more or 

 less cordate base, blade 4-9, pet. 1-3 in. PL small, in a dense elongate axillary thyrsus, 

 sepals one third the length of corolla-tube which is -^ in. long, clothed inside with 

 deflexed hairs, lobes shorter than tube. Staminal-column minute, corona-lobes subu- 

 late as long as or a little longer than anthers. Follicles slightly pubescent. The 1. 

 yield a kind of Indigo. 9. M. eriocarpa, Hook. f. Silhet. Follicles broad at base, 

 villous with long spreading hairs. 10. M. leiocarpa, King & Prain in Journ. As. Soc. 

 Bengal 69. 170. Kachin Hills, Hipper Burma. A large climber, nearly glabrous, 1. 

 ovate-lanceolate, blade 3-6, pet. |-1J in. long, follicles, only one of a pair developed, 

 1-2 in. long, quite glabrous. 



B. Corona-scales very short, like spurs or teeth at the base of anthers. 



11. M. Calesiana, Wight. Subhimalayan tract of Nepal and Sikkim, ascending to 

 2,500 ft. Branchlets, petioles, 1. beneath and cymes pubescent, 1. membranous, cordate, 

 blade 3-6, pet. 1-3 in. long. Cymes large, much branched. Sepals small, obtuse, less 

 than J the length of corolla, hairy on both sides, corolla ^| in. long, hirsute outside, 

 glabrous within, lobes shorter than tube. Staminal-tube cylindric, pentagonous, 5 

 teeth at the base, prolonged upwards as narrow ridges alternating with the anthers 

 each terminating at the top in a sharp tooth. Follicles stout, woody 6 by 2 in. 

 12. M. tliyrsiflora, Hook. f. Assam, Khasi hills, Jessore, Dacca. A powerful climber, 

 fi. small, in cymose clusters arranged in slender racemes on a flexuose rachis 4-5 in. 

 long, the upper clusters in bud, while the fl. in those below are open, corolla J in. long^ 

 green and yellow, the lobes expect, follicles coriaceous, 2 in. long, base turgid. 



13. M. barljata, Collett & Hemsl. in Journ. Linn. Soc. xxviii- 87. Meiktila, Upper 

 Burma. A twining shrub, softly pubescent, 1. rhomboid-ovate, blade 2-3, pet. ^^1 in. 

 long. Cymes axillary on short peduncles, 10-12-fid., sepals nearly orbicular, margin 

 hyaline ciliolate, corolla purple, globose, J in. diam., glabrous outside, hairy within, 

 dense tufts of hair between the lobes. Staminal-column pentagonal. 



Gongrouema nepalense, Dene. Himalaya 2-4,000 ft., from Kumaon to Sikkim. 

 Assam. Khasi hills. Chittagong. An extensive twiner, 1. glabrous, slightly rough 

 beneath with numerous minute raised dots, membranous, from ovate to oblong-lanceo- 

 late, blade 3-7, pet. 1-2 in. long. Peduncles axillary 2-6 in. long, branching into 3 

 long divaricate arms, each bearing 3 many-fld. pedunculate umbels. Corolla yellow, 

 campanulate deeply 5-lobed, | in. across. Follicles slender 2-3 in. long. 



6. CALOTROPIS, E. Br. ; M. Brit. Ind. iv. 17. 



Large shrubs, wood very soft or branches herbaceous, 1. large. M. large in 

 nmbelliform pedunculate cymes, sepals glandular within, corolla broad-cam- 

 panulate, lobes valvate. Corona of 5 compressed fleshy appendages, adnate to 

 and radiating from the staminal column, the lower end free and incnrved. 

 Anthers with a broad membranous tip, inflexed on the stigma, pollen-masses 

 10, in pairs, stipitate, stigma large, flat, pentagonous. Follicles broad, short, 

 oblique, seeds fiat ovate with a long silky coma. 



A. L. sessile or nearly so. 



1, C. gigantea, E. Br.; Wight 111. t. 155, 155-6. Vern. Ahj Maddr, Hind.; Muda^ 

 Eui, Mar. ; Yekkada gida, Kaia. ; JS'aUa Jelleduj Tel. ; Terriku, Mai. Common in the 

 plains of Northern India and in the Peninsula. Singbhum, often gregarious. Lower 

 Burma (Kurz). Ceylon, Malay Penins. and Archip. Young shoots, inflorescence and 

 underside of 1. clothed with soft white appressed woolly tomentum. L. 4-8 in. long, 

 obovate or obovate-oblong, gradu,ally narrowed into a cordate often amplexicaul base. 



