Ipomcca.'] ConvolvulacecE. 223 



Perennial, roots long, slender, fleshy, much branched ; stems 

 very long (15 or 20 ft. or more), not woody, much twining 

 with one another, 3- (or 4-) angled with the angles usually 

 widely winged, slightly pubescent, when old tough brown 

 and fibrous, when young nearly cylindrical and densely 

 pubescent ; 1. 2^-4 in., broadly ovate, shallowly cordate at 

 base, subacute, mucronate, slightly repand but not lobed, 

 more or less pubescent on both sides, especially when young, 

 minutely reticulate, petiole |-2 in., slightly pubescent ; fl. 

 rather large, 2-4, on stout pubescent ped. thickened upwards, 

 bracts large, lanceolate, pubescent, soon falling, peduncle 

 about as long as petiole; sep. unequal, two outer much the 

 largest, ovate, membranous, obtuse, glabrous, becoming much 

 enlarged in fruit; cor. about \\ in. diam.; capsule over \ in., 

 completely enclosed in enlarged, brittle, membranous-fleshy 

 very imbricate sep., shortly stalked, depressed, strongly 

 4-lobed, slightly hairy; seeds large, glabrous. 



Low country, in damp shady places ; very doubtfully wild, but often 

 cultivated. Fl. May; white. 



Throughout the Tropics of the Old World. 



Hermann, 1. c, has a very long description and two figures. The 

 root affords a glutinous milky juice, is much used as a purgative and 

 said to be a good substitute for jalap. The fleshy enlarged sep. com- 

 pletely enclose the capsule, and are strongly imbricated, forming an 

 ovate-ovoid, sharply pointed ' fruit ' i in. long. /. a7iceps, R. & S., seems 

 but a slight variety. 



25. I. denticulata, Chois. in DC. Prod. ix. 379 (1845). 



/. littoralis, Thw. Enum. 211 (non Bl.). C. P. 1939. 

 Fl. B. Ind. iv. 208. 



Stems trailing, slightly twining, very slender, glabrous ; 

 1. very variable, i-2| in,, cordate or hastate at base, acute or 

 obtuse, mucronate, entire or more or less dentate or deeply 

 3- or 5-lobed, glabrous, petiole usually longer than 1.; fl. 

 rather large, on rather long glabrous ped., solitary or 2 or 3, 

 bracts inconspicuous, peduncle very short ; sep. I in., obovate- 

 oblong, obtuse, mucronate, glabrous ; cor. widely funnel- 

 shaped, limb 1 1 in. diam., lobes apiculate ; capsule (not seen) 

 ' globose, glabrous, seeds smooth.' 



Sands of seacoast in moist region ; rare. Galle ; Kalutara. Fl. 

 December; purple. 



Also in Malaya, Nicobar Is., Polynesia, Australia, Seychelle Is.; 

 not in Peninsular India. 



Garcia, Arom. Hist. i. cap. 36). Hermann first determined their true 

 botanical source. 



