PLANTS OF BERMUDA. 51 



1. /. Batatas oy: Batatas cduUs (Sweet Potato). A j)erennial vine ; 

 root bearing oblong, nutritious tubers ; stems slender, twining or 

 creeping, four to six feet long, rooting at nodes ; leaves smooth, 

 cordate at base, varying onich i)i shape in the different varieties ; 

 petioles four to six inches long. Flower- stalks lengtli of petiole, 

 few-flowered ; sepals oblong, pointed, a quarter the length of 

 corolla, two outer shortev ; corolla white or pink with a purple 

 base. Distribution, cultivated in all warm countries, and largely 

 grown in these Islands during the summer months ; being difficult 

 to eradicate it is often met with in a "wild state. 



The following appear to be tlie varieties most frequently grown : 



A. ThefivC'finger. Leaves cut nearly to the base into five to seven 

 slender finger-like divisions, the middle lobe broader and longer ; 

 tubers white. 



B. The Lucy [St. Lncia ?) Stem reddish ; leaves nearly entire, 

 heart-shaped, long-pointed, downy ; tubers red. 



c. Leaves angular, three to five lobed, lobes ovate, acute, the 

 middle broader and longer ; tubers white, pink at one end. 



2. I. Fes-capro (Seaside Convolvulus). A perennial creeper; 

 stems smooth, reddish, branching from the root and spreading over 

 sands and rocks for long distances, rooting at the nodes ; leaves 

 leathery, roundish, three to four inches in diameter, emarginate, 

 with a small spiny projection of midrib, base heart-shaped with 

 two glands ; petiole one to two inches. Flower-stalks as long as 

 petiole, about three -flowered ; sepals ovate, two outer shorter; 

 corolla tapering into short tube. Distribution, West Indies ; habi- 

 tat, seaside rocks and sandy bays. Flowers two to three inches, 

 purple ; July to October, 



3. I. sidifoUa. A perennial creeper ; stem woody, contorted, 

 much branched,, ascending trees, &c., twelve to twenty feet ; leaves 

 heart-shaped, pointed, entire, velvety beneath. Cymes many- 

 flowered ; sepals oblong, blunt, two outer shorter ; capsule one- 

 seeded. Distribution, West Indies ; habitat, hedges, rare, and cul- 

 tivated in gardens. Flowers very numerous, one inch in diameter, 

 white with purple base, odorous ; October and November, 



4. I. Nil or C'onvoJvuhis Nil (Purple Morning Glory), A peren- 

 nial, twining vine ; stems slender, leafy, interwoven and running 

 over old walls, fences, Sec. ; leaves heart-shaped, entire, or three- 

 lobed, softly hairy. Flower-stalks axillary, shorter than petioles, 

 one to three flowered ; sepals leafy, ovate, \^^ith a long point, hairy 

 at base ; corolla-tube cylindrical, one inch long, the limb gradually 

 enlarging and spreading, five -lobed ; capsule three -celled. This 

 beautiful creeper is found both wild and cultivated, its purple 

 flowers, two to three inches in diameter, are produced in profusion 

 nearly all the year round. 



II. DICHOXnilA. 



Sepals five'pcrsistent ; corolla five-partite ; ovaries two. distinct, one- 

 seeded ; styles two. 



