Ipom.f.a.] CONVOLVVLACEJE. 115 



In most parts of the area : very common in ponds, ditohos and in moist 

 ground. Flowers during: the cold season. Distrib. Throughout 

 India and in Ceylon, extending to China, the Malay Pen., Trop. Africa 

 and X. Australia. The young shoots and roots are eaten as a vegetable 

 end the plant is often cultivated in S. India and Ceylon. The juice, when 

 dried, is used as a purgative. 



8. 1, sepiaria, Kwniq in Roxb. Hort. Beng. 14 ; Fl. Ind. i, 499 ;F. B. I. 

 iv, 209 ; Wt i:. I).; Praia Benj. PI. 736 ; Cooke Ft. Bomb, ii, 246. 



A perennial herb, glabrous or more or less hairy, Stems slender, twining. 

 Leaves 1-3 in. long, ovate, acute, entire, base cordate, with a wide sinus 

 and rounded lobes, petioles 1-2 in. long. Flowers many, in umbelliform 

 loiiir-peduncled cymes, peduncles 1-6 in. long ; bracts small, caduoous, 

 pedicels clavate in fruit. Sepals about i in, long, ovate, glabrous or 

 slightly hairy, margins membranous, 2 outer rather shorter than the 

 inner- Corolla narrowly funnel-shaped pink or white with a purplish 

 centre, about 1£ in* l° n g» or more, limb suddenly widened at the mouth ; 

 lobes acute, shortly apiculate. Filaments hairy at the base. Capsule 

 i in. long, ovoid, glabrous. Seeds 4 or 2, clothed with grey silky hairs. 



Common within the area, and often found in hedges. Flowers Aug. to Oct. 

 Distrib. Throughout India and in Ceylon ; also in Malaya, Hainan 

 and Formosa. It is sometimes eaten as a pot-herb. 



9. I. obscura. Ker-Gawl. in Bot. Peg. t, 239 ; f. B. I. iv, 207 ; Watt E. D.; 

 Prain Beng. PL 736 ; Cooke Fl. Bomb, ii, 248. Convolvulus obscurus, 

 Linn.; Roxb. Fl. Ind. i, 472. 



Annual. Stems long, slender, twining, glabrous or slightly villous, often 

 tioged with purple. Leaves 1-2| in. long, broadly ovate, cordate, acute 

 or acuminate, entire, thin, glabrous, petioles 1-3 in. long. Peduncles 1 or 

 2-3-flowered, about as long as the leaves, bracts minute, pedicels clavate. 

 Sepals about $ in. long, nearly equal, ovate or oblong, subacute or 

 obtuse, minutely verrucose. Corolla funnel-9haped, |-1 in. long, yellow, 

 or white with yellow bands, base purple, mouth of limb 1 in. in 

 diam., with shallow lobes. Capnde 2-valved, £ in. long, ovoid, subacute, 

 glabrous. Seeds dark-brown, velvety. 



All parte of the area, oommon. Flowers during the greater part of the 

 year. Distrib. Throughout India and iu Ceylon, also in Burma and 

 the Andamans, extending to N. Australia, trop. Africa and the 

 Mascarene Islands. 



10 I. dissecta, Willd.Phytogr.5, t.2,fig. 3 ; 'F. B. I.iv,200; Cooke Fl. 

 Bomb. U, 249. I. coptica Roth ; Royle III. 307. Convolvulus copticus 

 Linn.; Roxb. Fl. Ind. t, 477. 



A glabrous prostate herb, rarely twining ; branches many, $-2 ft long, 

 slender, angular. Leaves 1-1£ in. id diam, digitate or the upper otten 

 pedate ; lobes 3-7, linear-lance' late, irregularly serrate; petioles jhtin* 

 long, with stipule-like leaves in the axils. Flowers usually solitary, 



