Vitaceae
S. NAZIMUDDIN AND M. QAISER
Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi-32.
Mostly lianas or creeper, rarely trees, erect shrubs or herbs, with copious watery juice. Leaves mostly petiolate, alternate, stipulate or exstipulate, simple or palmately lobed or compound or rarely pinnately compound, often pellucidpunctate. Inflorescence umbellate, paniculate or spicate, leaf-opposed cymes or racemes, peduncles often modified into unbranched or branched tendrils, sometimes terminating in sticky discs. Flowers small, bisexual or unisexual (plants then dioecious or polygamomonoecious), actinomorphic, tetra-or pentamerous, hypogynous, bracteolate, sepals (3-) 4-5 (-7), united into an entire or (3-) 4-5 (-7) lobed or toothed cupular calyx. Petals (3-) 4-5
(-7), free or united at the base or apex, valvate, caducous. Stamens as many as and oppostie the petals, inserted below the disc, anthers free or coherent, dithecous, introrse, rarely extrorse, longitudinally dehiscent. Carpels 2, rarely 3-6 (-8) syncarpous; ovary superior, 2-(3-6) loculed, ovules anatropous, (1-) 2 in each locule on axile placenta; style simple, short, rarely absent; stigma inconspicuous capitate or discoid, rarely 4-lobed. Fruit a 1-4 seeded berry, seeds erect, albuminous.
A family of c. 13 genera and 700 species, distributed in tropical and subtropical regions also extending to north and south temperate regions. Represented by 6 genera and 12 species in Pakistan.
Doubtful Species
Tetrastigma serrulatum (Roxb.) Planch. in DC., Monogr. Phaner. 5:432. 1887.
Parker reported this from Indus East 3-7000 ft. but Stewart (Ann. Cat. Vasc. P1. W. Pak. & Kashm 470.1972) has only reported it from Dharmsala east. We have also failed to find any specimen of this taxon from Pakistan.
Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the United States Department of Agriculture for financing this research under P.L.480 and to Mr. I.C. Hedge of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, for going through the manuscript. Thanks are also due to Mr. J. Joseph, Karachi Seminary, Karachi for providing the Latin diagnosis of the new taxon.
