GYMNEMA (from gymnos, naked, and nema, a filament; the stamineous corona being absent, the filaments are left naked). ORD. Asclepiadeae. A genus comprising about twenty-five species of stove evergreen climbing shrubs or sub-shrubs, natives of Africa, tropical and sub-tropical Asia, and Australia. Flowers yellow, small. Leaves opposite. The plants thrive in a well-drained compost of fibry loam and sandy peat. Cuttings of firm side shoots, made in spring, will root if inserted in sand, in heat. GYMNEMA lactiferum (milk-bearing). fl. in umbels, shorter than the petioles; throat of small corolla crowned by five fleshy tubercles. July. l. on short petioles, ovate, bluntly acuminated, usually unequal-sided. Tropical Asia. The milk of this plant is substituted by the Cingalese for cows' milk. GYMNEMA tingens (staining). fl. pale yellow, numerous; umbels or corymbs often twin. July. l. cordate, acuminated, to oval. Tropical Himalaya, 1823.