830. Gymnema elcgAns. (W. & A. Contributions)
twining, branches slender glabrous, the older ones warty :
leaves cordate—ovate or oval, acuminated, undulated on
the margin : umbels short peduncled, peduncles and pedicles
afterwards elongating: flowers small,(white) throat of
the corolla naked, tube furnished within with hairy lines :
stigma obtuse longer than the stamens : follicles often,
by abortion, solitary, acuminated : seed margined. Wight's
Contributions, pg. 46.
The exact station whence the specimens figured were
obtained is unknown to me the drawing having been made
when I was in England which will in part account for the
absence of fruit. The follicles are slender, about 3 inches
long and only three or four lines in thickness.
831. Cryptolepis grandiflora. (R. W.) leaves
from oval to obovate spatbulate : cymes axillary diffuse,
longer than the leaves : corolla funnel-shaped, throat furnished
with 5 inflexed capitate processes : anthers acuminate
; 5 hypogynous emarginate scales alternate with the
stamens; follicles divaricated.
Balaghaut mountains near Naggary. A fine species
abundantly distinct from C. Buchananni.
While examining the specimen figured I found some
grains of pollen producing their tubes, these I have endeavoured
to represent. The large tube on the right
hand side is one of them more highly magnified to show-
little opaque bodies passing along.
832. Cryptostegia. grandiflora. (R. Br. Nerium
grandiflorum. Roxb.)
This is a large twining shrub now common in the hedge
rows about Madras and not unfrequently met with as an
ornamental shrub in gardens. It abounds with milky
juice from which, when exposed for a short time to the
sun a quantity of pure caoutchouc separates : flowers
redish white especially towards the bottom of the tube.
833. Aneseia calysina. (Choisy. Convolvulus caly
einus. Roxb.) stem pilose twining : leaves oblong cordate
acuminated very acute, glabrous, petiolate : peduncles
hardly the'length of the petioles 1-3 flowered : sepals with
villous edges, exterior ones sagittately__ cordate : corolla
tubular. G. Don. gard. diet. 4, pg. 295.
Roxburgh assigns the interior parts ot India as the
station of this species. The specimen here figured is of
peninsular origin the exact station I do not at present
recollect but think Negapatam.
834. B a ta ta s PENTAPiiYLLA. (Ch. Convolvulus penta-
phullus Lin. C. hirsutus Roxb.) hairy: leaves quinate ;
leaflets petiolate, elleptic lanceolate or oblong, entire,
acuminated: peduncles longer than the leaves, loose,
dichotomous : corolla white or cream coloured. Don.
gard. diet. 4, pg. 261. . , g .
Roxburgh assigns the same station as above interior
parts of Hindostan” for this species I have found it
repeatedly near the Coast. The specimen here figured
grew at Negapatam on the sea coast.
835. Hewittia bicolor. (W. & A. Shuteria Choisy,
not of W. & A. Prod. Convolvulus bicolor, Roxb.)
This the only species of the genus is common enough
near the Coast. It is distinguished generally by its one
celled 4 seeded capsules and the flattened ovate spreading
lobes of the stigma. Roxburgh however says,^“ capsules
hairy/owr celled; seeds black, one in each cell” which
1 think must be a mistake on his part. My draughtsman
has clearly represented the capsule^ 1 celled and
four seeded which corresponds with Choisy’s character.
836. I pomcea pestigridis. (Lin ) leaves palmate 5
rarely 71obed, lobes ovate entire, clothed with silky hairs :
peduncles many flowered equal in length to the leaves :
flowers aggregate ; bracteas six or eight surrounding the
head of flowers and longer than it. Don. gard. diet. 4,
pg. 280.
A most common plant in sandy soils extending all over
India.
837. I pomcea pilosa. (Choisy.) hairy : leaves broadly
cordate entire or slightly 3 lobed, clothed with white wool
beneath : peduncles exceeding the petioles, cymosely many
flowered ; sepals linear hairy. Don. gard. diet. 1. c.
A subalpine plant found twining over bushes in jungles
near the bottom of hills. The leaves are white and powdery
beneath, the flowers a beautiful rose pink colour and
the. whole plant covered with long soft hairs.
838. I pomcea sepiaria. (Konig. Roxb.) stem alternately
glabrous and villous from loose hairs : leaves cordate
oblong: peduncles many flowered: sepals oblong
ovate, acute or obtuse : corolla showy tubularly funuel
shaped. Don. gard diet. 4, pg. 273.
Very common twining in hedges, a showy plant deserving
of a place in the flower garden. The peduncles enlarge
toward the apex and sometimes become so succulent
as to resemble fruit.
839. Argyreia cymosa (Choisy. Ilivea R. W. Let-
somia cymosa Roxb.) clothed with pruinose down : leaves
roundish cordate or reniform-cordate obtuse, terminated
by a short mucro, glabrous on both sides, or clothed with
pruinose down: peduncles equal or occasionally exceeding
the leaves; leafy at top and cymosely many flowered ;
bracteas ovate roundish, obtuse, plicately recurved : outer
sepals like the bracteas, inner ones ovate linear: corolla
showy. Don. gard. diet. 4, pg. 257.
A plant of not uncommon occurrence twining among
hedges, which during the flowering season it greatly enlivens
with its numerous large pale piuk flower».
When naming this plate I had not specimens at hand
to dissect the ovary and therefore adopted Choisy’s name
in opposition to the evidence furnished by the drawing
which shows a 4 celled ovary, not a 2 celled one, which
constitutes the essential character of the genus. I have
since ascertained that the draftsman is right and that it is
in fact a species of Rivea, the character of which is to have
a 4 celled ovary with a single seed in each cell. With this
character taken from structure M. Choisy, has, in the case
of Argyreia■, unhappily, combined one derived from the
form of the corolla of easier observation, and on which he
seems generally to have relied, though unfortunately of
no value and such as a very slight degree of reflection
must have satisfied him ought not to be associated
with those derived from the structure of the ovary, until
confirmed by most careful examination; there being no necessary
connection between the shape of the corolla and
number of cells of the ovary. As the matter now stands
it seems not improbable that Loureiro’s old genus will be
swept away to give place to one of yesterday, merely
through an error of the more re,cent expositor. For myself
I have not yet met with a single instance of a con-
volvulaceous plant with baccate fruit and a 2 celled ovary:
and now, I trust not unreasonably, feel sceptical of the
existence of such a union, though at the same time I see
no reason why it should not exist: but being of comparatively
rare occurrence I would urge the propriety of reverting
to Roxburgh’s idea of making the baccate fruit
the essential character of the genus reuniting Rivea and
Argyreia, of course adopting the older name, and dividing
the genus into sections and subsections according to its
2 or 4 celled ovary and form of the corolla. As it now
stands the genus Argyreia, though so truly Indian, has
scarcely a true Indian species, if in fact, as now defined,
one genuine species can be found—that is, a Convolvulacea
combining the three essential requisites of—baccate fruit
a 2 celled ovary, and eampanulate corolla.