770 Convolvulaceae. 
broad, slightly hairy on both sides chiefly on the veins; petiole 2—5 em 
long. Flowers few or many in a dense subsessile cluster; bracts small, 
lanceolate to subulate, persistent; pedicels sometimes as long as the 
calyx. Sepals very hairy, 5—6 mm long, ovate, acuminate, with 
spreading tips. Corolla 6—8 mm long, campanulate; white with 
a purple eye or sometimes rose or purple; midpetaline areas pubescent. 
Capsule globose, hairy, 2-celled, 4-seeded, 5 mm in diam. Seeds 
glabrous, finely punctate. — Flow. March to April. 
N. d. In cotton-fields near Shubra. 
Trough Tropical Africa, Asia to North Australia. 
1076. (2.) Ipomoea stolonifera Gmel. Syst. II (1791), p. 345. 
— Ipomoea carmosa R. Br. Prodrom., p. 485. —- Ipomoea acetosae- 
folia Roem. and Schult. System. IV, p. 246. — Ipomoea humilis G. 
Don. Gen. System. IV, p.267. — Choisy in DC. Prodrom. IX, p.396. 
— Ipomoea littoralis Boiss. Flor. Or. IV, p. 112. — Aschers.-Schweinf. 
Ill. Flor. d’Eg., p. 107 no. 705. — Batatas acetosaefolia and Batatas 
littoralis Choisy in DC. Prodrom. IX, p. 337—338. — Perennial, 
from a stout tuberous root, glabrous. Stems trailing widely on the 
sands of the sea shore or running just beneath the surface and 
sending up short erect leafy branches. Leaves very variable in 
shape, thick, rather fleshy, usually linear or oblong, 5—8 cm long, 
entire, apex rounded, mucronulate, sometimes emarginate, base 
cuneate, sometimes slightly cordate or auricled to hastate; petiole 
2—2'/, cm long or less. Peduncles 1—3-flowered, from less than 
2—5 cm long; bracts minute, subulate; pedicel generally stouter 
than the peduncle, 2—2'/, cm long. Sepals thinly coriaceous, 
8—10 mm long, oblong to ovate, obtuse or minutely cuspi- 
date. Corolla funnel-shaped, 2!/,—5 cm long, white with a purple 
eye. Capsule globose, glabrous, 12 mm in diam. Seeds shaggily 
tomentose. — Flow. January to March. 
M. ma. Abusir; Alexandria. 
Widely spread on sandy sea-shores in the warmer parts of the world. 
1077. (3.) Ipomoea Batatas Lam. Encyclop. IV (1797), p. 14. 
— Aschers.-Schweinf. Ill. Flor. d’Eg., p. 107. — Batatas edulis Choisy 
in DC. Prodrom. IX, p. 338. — Perennial, with a large white 
or red, rarely yellow, tuberous root. Stems climbing, glabrous 
or slightly hairy. Leaves membranous, glabrous, 6— 8 cm long, 
and broad, very variable in shape, 3-lobed to tripartite, central lobe 
large ovate, subacute, lateral lobes rounded to acute, sometimes 
again divided, the blade becoming more or less palmately penta- 
partite, rarely subentire, with coarsely dentate or angled margin; 
base flat; petiole long. Peduncle long; cymes dense; pedicels short. 
