FLORA OF ADEN. 
245 
^ inch long, ovate, acnte. Corolla glabrous, about 1 inch across ; lobes 
usually erect, ovate, acute, § inch long ; corona-lobes compressed, equal- 
ling or exceeding the staminal column, the back nearly straight or some- 
times slightly curved away from the column above the upcurved sub- 
acute spur, the apex obliquely truncate, bifid and without auricles. 
Follicles 3 — 4 by 2 — 3 inches, subglobose, ellipsoid or ovoid. Seeds J 
by inch, broadly ovate, acute, flattened, narrowly margined, minutely 
tomentose, light-brown ; coma 1J inches long. 
Mowers: — October (Marchesetti) ; March 1878 (Perry); April 1888 
(Lunt) . 
Fruits : — -April 1844 (Lunt). 
Locality .--—Plain of Maala (Defl., Schweinf., Lunt) ; great valley be- 
tween Steamer Point and town (Marchesetti) ; without locality (Birdw.) ; 
not uncommon on N. stony plaines (Perry) ; Steamer Point, nearly sea 
level, near telegraph station (Lunt) ; Shaikh O’thman (Ellenbeck). 
Distribution : — Tropical Africa, Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Persia, Afghan- 
istan, Sind, Punjab and in the subhimalayan tract east to the Sarda 
river, drier districts of the Deccan, dry region of the Irawady valley. 
Note : — -No mention is made of this plant in the/ Elorula Adenensis/ 
It seems strange that all the botanists before Anderson and Anderson 
himself should not have noticed this tall conspicuous shrub. We are inclined 
to believe that our Calotropis did not exist in Aden about 50 years ago ; 
it is quite possible that it was carried there by the Arab boats which land 
quite close to the place where this milky bush is found in abundance. 
Historical Note : — Prosper Alpinus was one of the earliest European 
writers to describe this plant (De Plantis Aegypti, 1592, c. XXV). He 
tells us that it is the f beidelsar 3 of Alexandria, where it grows in damp 
places. The ancient Arabs seem to have had superstitious beliefs regard- 
ing this plant, since they associated it with sun-worship. The Arabic 
name f ushar 3 appears to be a generic word for milk-yielding plants and 
was probably restricted to Calotropis at a comparatively late date. Abu 
Hanifeh was perhaps the first Arab writer to give an explicit account of 
it (Watt, Comm. Prod. Ind, p. 205). 
With certain Hindus Calotropis is a sacred plant, and is associated 
with the observances of the e maruts J or winds, the demigods of f rudra . 9 
Eor further details cf. Ibn-el-Beithar, II, p. 267, 448 ; Rheede Hort. 
Mai. 1679,11, t. 31 ; Rumphius Herb. Amb. 1755, VII, 24, t. 14, f. 1 ; 
Jones in Asiat. Res., 1798, IV, 267 ; Joret, Les Plantes dans L'Antiq. 
1904, II, 354. 
For economic uses (gutta-percha, fibre, floss, medicine) cf. Watt, 
Diet. Econ. Prod. Ind. II, 33-49 ; Comm. Prod. Ind. 205-208. 
