24 



IPOMGEA cymosa. 



The White-cluster Ipomcea. 



PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 

 Nat. Ord. CONVOLVTJLACE^. 



IPOMCEA. Choisy. 



I. cymosa ; caule tereti, foliis ovato-cordatis apice acutis etiam acuminatis 

 elougatis superue nigrescentibus, pedunciilis axillaribus bifido-miiltifloris 

 bi'evibus, sepalis coriaceis obtusis aut rariils acutiusculis flavo-nigres- 

 centibus exterioribus saepe brevioribus. Choisy Convolv. orient, p. 80. 



Convolvulus cymosus, Desrousseaux EncycL bof.3. 556. 



Convolvulus pentagonus, Roxb.Jl. ind. 1. 485. Wall.Jl. ind. 2. 72. 



Convolvulus bifidus, Vahl. symb. 3. 31. 



Convolvulus Rotliii, SjJJ'etiy. sysf. 1. 600. 



Convolvulus laevis minor, Rumph. amboin. 5. 431. t. 158. 



Convolvulus blandus, Roxb. Fl. ind. 1. 470. Wall.Jl. ind. 2. 50. 



Ipomcea cymosa, Romer ^ SchuUes syst. veg. 4, 241. 



Ipomoea bifida, Roth. nov. sp. 118. 



Ipomcea corymbosa? Id. 109. 



Ipomcea Ileynii, RiMer ^ Schultes syst. vey. 4. 237. 



Ipomcea Rothii, Id. 237* 



Ipomcea blanda. Sweet Ilort. Sub. Land. ed. 2. 288. 



Ipomcea radicans ? Blume Bijdr. 712. 



If all the above names are really, as M. Choisy states, 

 synonyms, it must be confessed that the Botanists who have 

 invented them have much to answer for. Thirteen different 

 names for the same plant form rather an unusual supply of 

 confusion even in the bewildering nomenclature of Botanists. 

 It is how^ever to be said in justification, or at least palliation, 

 that the plant is variable in appearance, sometimes smooth, 

 sometimes hairy, and that, like other Ipomoeas, it occasionally 

 indulges in throwing out angles from its leaves. 



It appears to be wild all over the tropics of Asia ; the 

 Circars and the Moluccas according to Roxburgh, Amboyna 

 according to Iluaiphius, and apparently Java, are its favourite 

 countries. According to Rumphius, the flowers open about 



