TELOSMA
Telosma
Coville, Contr. U.S. Dept. Agr. Contrib. Natl. Herb. 9: 384. 1905; Bullock in Hutch., Dalziell & Hepper, Fl. W. Trop. Aft. 2.2: 97. 1963; Ali, Fl. Pak. @ eFloras.org p. 39.
Twining shrub, branches glabrous or pubescent. Leaves opposite, ovate-oblong to broadly ovate; petiole long. Flowers in extra-axillary sessile or shortly pedunculate, many-flowered umbelloid cymes, pendulous, rachis laxly branched. Calyx lobes ovate to lanceolate with 5 glands at base. Corolla twisted in bud, tubular-campanulate, inflated at the base, throat sometimes constricted, lobes patent, twisted to right, villous in the throat. Corona arising from staminal column not at all adnate to corolla. Corona lobes 5, adnate to base of staminal tube, margin and apex free, erect, oblong, obtuse with ligulate inner lobes adnate to near apex or corona lobes notched. Filaments connate into a tube; membranous anther appendages incurved; pollinia 2 per pollinarium, oblong, erect. Stigma head convex or conical. Follicles straight, smooth, thick, tapering to a point. Seeds comose.
9 species
Telosma pallida
Telosma pallida
(Roxb.) Craib, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1911: 418. 1911; Parker, For. Fl. Punj. ed. 3. 556. 1956; Ohashi, Fl. East. Himalaya 91. 1975; Fl. China @ eFloras.org 16: 241; Fl. Pak @ eFloras.org p. 40; Asclepias pallida Roxb., Fl. Ind. ed. 1832(2): 48. 1832; Pergullaria pallida (Roxb.) Wight & Arn., Contr. Bot. India 42. 1834; Parker, For. Fl. Punj. ed. 1: 349. 1918 (Reprint 1973).
A pubescent or nearly glabrous twining shrub, juice milky. Leaves opposite, 5-10 cm long, ovate, base cordate, apex shortly acuminate, more or less puberulous, especially on the veins or glabrous, a few minute conical glands at the base of midrib on upper surface, lower surface pale; petiole 1.3-3.7 cm long, pubescent, usually twisted at base. Inflorescence umbellate cymes arising singly at nodes from sides of leaf axils; peduncles 0.5-1.5 cm long, pubescent; pedicels 0.5-1.2 cm long, pubescent; bracts ca. 3.5 mm long, linear, caducous. Flowers pale yellow, ca. 1.7 cm across, not or faintly scented. Sepals 5, free or fused at the base, ca. 5 mm long, oblong, ovate-lanceolate, hairy without, alternating with small solitary glands. Corolla ca. 1.8 cm long, salverform, pale yellow; corolla tube swollen at base, slightly hairy within near base, tube nearly as long as or shorter than lobes, throat villous; lobes 5, lanceolate or linear-oblong, glabrous, overlapping to the right in bud. Corona of 5, erect, membranous, dorsally flattened processes arising from the base of and adnate to the staminal column, each with a tongue-like prolongation from the inner face which exceeds the stigma. Stamens 5; filaments united; anthers with long, membranous, pointed appendages; pollen masses solitary in each cell, cylindric, erect, waxy. Stigma large, umbonate, slightly exceeding the anther tips. Follicles solitary, ca. 6- 10 cm x 2 cm, straight, pendulous, smooth, turgid, tapering to a blunt point. Seeds ca. 1 cm long, pale brown, flat, broadly margined; coma ca. 2.5 cm long.
Common Names: Telosma Vine; Surkilla (Hindi)
