LXXXVIII. CONVOLVULACE.^. 239 



6. Merremia rhyncorhiza, Hallier f. in Engl. Bot. Jalwh. v. 16 

 (1893) p. 552. Eoot au ovoid compressed beaked tuber ; stems filiform, 

 twining, glabrous. Leaves l|-2 in. in diam., palmately cut almost to 

 the base into 5-7 segmeuts, the middle the longest, sparsely hairy 

 above and on the nerves beneath with fulvous hairs ; segments oblong, 

 acute, unequally lobed or pinnatifid ; petioles filiform, 1-1| in. long. 

 Peduncles 1-2-flowered, filiform, glabrous, 2-4 in. long ; bracts -1— |- in. 

 long, lanceolate, acute ; pedicels i-| in. long. Sepals unequal, glabrous, 

 oblong-lanceolate, acute, the 2 outer g in. long, shorter than the inner, 

 the 3 inner g in. long. Corolla yellow, 1-1^ in. long by 2 in. in diam. 

 at the mouth. Anthers ^ in. long, twisted, narrowly sagittate. I'ruit 

 not seen. Ipomcea rhyncorhiza, Dalz. in Kew Jouru. Bot. v. 3 (1851) 

 p. 179. ri. B. I. v. 4, p. 214 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 167 ; Talb. Trees, 

 Bomb. ed. 2, p. 252 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1898) p. 172. 

 — Plowers : July-Sept. 



A rare plant. Konkan ; Sahyaclri mountains, Dalzell ! Kanaka : near the coast at 

 Belikeri, Talbot ; Hatigheri (N. Kanara), Woodrow. — Distrib. India (W. Peninsula). 



The tubers are eaten aud greedily sought for by the natives, which accounts for 

 the rarity of the plant. The leaves are also used as a vegetable. 



7. Merremia vitifolia, Hallier f. in Engl. Bot. Jahrh. v. 16 (1893) 

 p. 552. A perennial twiner ; stems long, stout, much-branched, the 

 young ones clothed with spreading deciduous hairs. Leaves 2-6 in. in 

 diam., the young ones bronze-colored, all palmately cut about ^ the way 

 down or a little more, into 5 or sometimes 7 triangular acuminate lobes, 

 more or less hairy above and on the nerves beneath, margins coarsely 

 serrate-dentate, base cordate; petioles ^-2 in. long, patently hairy. 

 Flowers 1-7 in pedunculate cymes ; peduncles \-^ in. long, patently 

 hairy ; buds pointed ; bracts linear, caducous. Calyx more or less 

 densely clothed outside with long spreading hairs ; sepals rather more 

 than i in. long, enlarged in fruit, broadly elliptic, obtuse, ttie outer 

 slightly shorter, apiculate. Corolla yellow, 1-2 in. long, subcampanu- 

 late ; bands distinct, strongly lineate. Capsules | in. in diam., sub- 

 globose. Seeds glabrous. Ipomoea vitifolia, Sweet, Hort. Brit. ed. 2 

 (1830) p. 372 ; Grab. Cat. p. 132 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 165 ; Fl. B. L v. 4, 

 p. 213; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 3, p. 224; Talb. Trees, Bomb. ed. 2, p. 251 ; 

 Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1898) p. 172 ; Watt, Diet. Econ. 

 Prod. V. 4, p. 496. — Flowers : Oct.-Dec. Veen. Navli. 



KoNKAN : Stocks !, Law ! ; Vingorla, Kanitkwr ! ; hills about Bassein, Graham ; 

 Malabar Hill (Bombay), Graham ; hilly parts of the Konkan generally, Dalzell c|- 

 Gibson. S. M. Country: Castlerock, Cooke I Kanara: Kala naddi, Bitchie, liS'Sl 

 — DiSTBiB. Throughout India (except the N.W. dry area) ; Ceylon, Malay Islands. 



8. Merremia pentaphylla, Hallier f. in Engl. Bot. Jahrh. v. 16 

 (] 893) p. 552. A twining annual ; stems clothed with long scattered hairs 

 from glandular bases. Leaves digitate ; leaflets 5, broadly lanceolate, 

 acuminate, subsessile, 2-4 by f- If in., thinly hirsute with long hairs 

 (in cultivation often glabrous), base acute; petioles 1-4 in. long, hairy. 

 Flowers white, in few-flowered lax fulvous-hairy racemose cymes ; 

 peduncles 1-4 in. long ; bracts \-^ in. long, linear ; pedicels -^-2 in. 

 long. Sepals enlarged in fruit, thin, the 3 outer densely fulvous-hairy, 

 the 2 outermost of these f by ^ in., elliptic-oblong, subacute, the third 



