GAMOPETALiE 123 



at the base. The anthers are arrow-shaped, often 

 twisted after flowering, and open inwards. The 

 pistil is syncarpous and consists of two or more 

 carpels, and the ovary is two to four-celled, situated 

 on a disc. There is a single slender style (or rarely 

 two). There are two or three stigmatic lobes or two 

 styles. The fruit is a capsule, berry, or nut. The 

 seeds are albuminous, and two, four, or six are con- 

 tained in each capsule with two, three or four cells, 

 with thin partitions. 



The flowers are large and brightly coloured, and 

 pollinated by various classes of insects, some by noc- 

 turnal Lepidoptera. There are extra-floral nectaries 

 on the leaf-stalk in some foreign types. The flowers 

 secrete honey. The flowers are short-lived, lasting 

 often but a day. 



The group includes a few plants with medicinal 

 properties. The Batata (Ipomaea) is the Sweet 

 Potato with tuberous roots, which are edible. 



Small Bindweed {Convolvulus arvcnsis). 



In the late summer few plants are more conspic- 

 uous than the Field Convolvulus, especially in arable 

 districts, where this plant is common amongst the 

 corn as well as by the wayside. 



In all parts of the British Isles, at moderate eleva- 

 tions, this species is frequent. In Derbyshire it 

 ascends above the zone of cultivation, to an altitude 

 of 1200 ft. 



The habitat is fields, waste places, pastures, corn- 



