2. Periploca aphylla Dcne. in Jacquem., Voy. Inde. 109. t. 116. 1844. Boiss., Fl. Or. 4:50. 1879; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 4:12. 1883; Parker, For. Fl. Punj. ed. 3338. 1956; Cooke, Fl. Pres. Bomb. reprint ed. 211. 1958; Rech. f., Fl. Iran. 73:2. 1970.
Vern.: Bata.
S.I. ALI
Erect branched shrub c. 1.8-3.0 m tall, generally leafless, juice milky. Leaves (when present) 6-7 mm long, ovate-oblong, acute, thick, nerve obscure. Flowers in 1.2-2.5 cm long cymes on thick peduncles, fragrant. Bracts ovate, margin scarious, breaking off about the middle leaving the lower portion. Calyx lobes 2.5 mm long. Corolla greenish outside, dark purple within. Tube very short, lobes 2.2-6 mm long, oblong, obtuse, densely hairy near the tip. Corona lobes c. 6 mm long, filiform, glabrous, recurved at the apex. Follicles 5-10 cm x 5-6 mm, rigid woody, widely divergent, pointed. Seeds 6-6.5 mm long, oblong, compres¬sed, coma c. 2.5 cm long.
Fl. Per.: March-May.
Type: Djillalpur, Jacquemont 113 (P,K).
Distribution: Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Arabia and Egypt.
The flower buds are sometimes eaten. The milky juice in Sind is reputed to have some medicinal properties and the stem fibres are used for making ropes.
