392 A FLORA OF MANILA 
green, about 8 mm long, the margins, at least below, ciliate-hirsute. Corolla 
pink or pink-purple, 1.5 cm long. Capsule depressed-globose, apiculate, 
about 6 mm in diameter, somewhat hirsute. (FI. Filip. pl. 31,7. commutata.) 
Common in open waste places ete., fl. all the year; widely distributed in 
the Philippines. Introduced from tropical America, now found also in 
Singapore, Java, and Mauritius. 
9. 1. reptans (L.) Poir. (J. aquatica Forsk.). Cancong (Tag.). 
An annual, glabrous, widely spreading vine the stems trailing on mud 
or floating on stagnant pools, often thickened. Leaves oblong-ovate, acute 
or obtuse, or slightly sinuate, angled, or lobed, base cordate or hastate, 7 
to 14 em long, long-petioled. Pedicels axillary, erect, usually 1- or 2- 
flowered. Sepals green, 8 mm long, oblong, obtuse or acute. Corolla nar- 
rowly-campanulate, about 5 em long, purplish, the limb nearly white or 
pale-pink-purple, about 5 cm in diameter, the tube deeper purple inside. 
Capsule ovoid, about 1 cm long. (FI. Filip. pl. 149.) 
In stagnant pools, open muddy places, etc., fl. all the year; widely dis- 
tributed in the Philippines. Tropical Africa and Asia through Malaya 
to Australia. 
*10. I. BATATAS (L.) Poir. Camote (Sp.-Fil.) ; Sweet Potato. 
A spreading, prostrate, herbaceous, glabrous or somewhat hairy vine 
from small or large, red, white, or yellow tubers. Leaves ovate to oblong- 
ovate, 6 to 14 cm long, subentire, angular or lobed, acuminate, base cor- 
date. Peduncles axillary, about as long as the petioles, erect, several- 
flowered. Sepals about 1 em long, greenish, the lobes acuminate. Corolla 
campanulate, 4 to 5 cm long, pink-purple and whitish. 
Occasionally cultivated in our area, fl. most or all of the year; exten- 
sively cultivated throughout the Philippines. A native of tropical Ameri¢a, 
now cultivated in most warm countries. 
119. HYDROPHYLLACEAE (HyYDROLEA FAMILY) 
Herbs with alternate, entire leaves and regular, perfect, 5-merous, blue 
flowers in short, terminal and axillary, often leafy racemes. Calyx di- 
vided nearly to the base, the segments lanceolate. Corolla subrotate, the 
lobes imbricate. Stamens 5, attached to the short corolla-tube, alternate 
with its lobes. Ovary 2-celled; styles 2, distinct; ovules numerous. Cap- 
sule globose or ovoid, septicidal or irregularly 4-valved. 
Genera 17, species about 175, mostly American, a single representative 
in the Philippines. 
HYDROLEA Linnaeus 
Characters of the Family as given above. (Greek “water” and “oil” 
from the habitat and nature of some species.) 
Species 12, tropics of both hemispheres, 1 in the Philippines. 
1. H. zeylanica (L.) Vahl. 
An annual, ascending or procumbent, sparingly branched nearly gla- 
brous plant a few cm to 1.2 m in length. Leaves lanceolate, acute or acu- 
minate, 4 to 10 mm long. Inflorescence and sepals covered with spreading, 
viscid hairs. Sepals green, about 5 mm long. Corolla blue, 8 to 10 mm 
in diameter. Capsule ovoid, surrounded by the persistent calyx-lobes. 
In open wet places, rice paddies etc., often in shallow pools, Masambong, 
Pasay, etc., fl. Dec._Feb.; widely distributed in the Philippines. India to 
China southward to Queensland. 
