CON 



CON 



beauty of their foliage and flowers. They also 

 grow well in many other situations that are 

 more open. 



CONVOLVULUS, a genus containing se- 

 veral plants cf the herbaceous trailing annual 

 and perennial kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Pentandria 

 Monogynia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Campanacece. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a five- 

 parted perianthium, converging, ovate, obtuse, 

 very small, permanent : the corolla is one- petal- 

 led, bell-shaped, spreading, large, plaited, ob- 

 scurely five-lobed : the stamina have five subulate 

 filaments, shorter by half than the corolla : an- 

 thers ovate, compressed : the pistillnm is a round- 

 ish superior germ : style filiform, length of the 

 stamens: stigmas two, oblong, broadish: the pe- 

 ricarpium is a capsule enwrapped by the calyx, 

 roundish, two-celled, one- t\v.o- or three- valved 

 (commonly three-celled, seldom two- or four- 

 celled : partition alternate with the valves) : the 

 seeds are in pairs, roundish (one or two seeds in 

 each cell, sometimes abortive, few with a twisted 

 embryo) . 



The species mostly cultivated are : 1 . C. purpu- 

 rea, Purple Convolvulus, or Convolvulus Major; 

 2. C. tricolor, Three-coloured Trailing Convolvu- 

 lus, or Convolvulus Minor; 3. C. Nil, Anil, Blue 

 or Azure Convolvulus ; 4. C. Canariensis, Canary 

 Evergreen Convolvulus ; 5. C. cneorurn, Silver- 

 leaved Convolvulus ; 6. C. Batatas, Tuberous- 

 rooted Convolvulus, or Spanish Potatoes. 



The first is an annual plant, that rises on sup- 

 port to the height of ten or twelve feet. In its 

 native situation it sends out long branches, which 

 twist about the trees, and rise to a great height. 

 The leaves arc smooth, heart-shaped, ending in 

 long points; the ears at the base are large and 

 rounded, and the petioles long and slender. The 

 peduncles are long, each sustaining three purple- 

 coloured flowers. It flowers from theend of June 

 till destroyed by the frost. It is anative of America. 



It is usually known in garden-culture by the 

 name of Convolvulus Major. 



There are varieties, with deep purple flowers, 

 with white flowers, with red flowers, and with 

 whitish blue flowers. 



The second species is an annual plant, with 

 several thick herbaceous stalks, about two feet 

 long, not twining, but bending towards the 

 ground, upon which many of the lower branches 

 lie prostrate. The leaves are likewise sessile. 

 The peduncles come out just above the leaves at 

 the same joint, and on the same side ; they are 

 about two inches long, each sustaining one large 

 open bell-shaped flower, of a fine blue colour, 

 with a white bottom, varying to pure white, and 



sometimes beautifully variegated with both co- 

 lours. The white flowers are succeeded by white- 

 seeds ; but in the blue ones they are dark-colour- 

 ed. It is a native of Barbary, &c. commonly 

 known in garden-culture under the title of Con- 

 volvulus Minor. 



The third is also an annual plant, rising with 

 a twining stalk eight or ten feet high. The 

 leaves are woolly, ending in sharp points and 

 on long petioles. Each peduncle sustains two 

 flowers of a very deep blue colour, whence its 

 name of Anil or Nil. 



It is a beautiful plant; and it flowers all the lat- 

 ter part of the summer. It is a native of 

 America. 



The fourth species has strong fibrous roots. 

 The stems are woody, branched, growing twenty 

 feet high, and more when supported. The 

 flowers are axillary, several on one peduncle, 

 for the most part of a pale blue colour, but some- 

 times white. It flowers in June, July, and 

 August, and sometimes ripens seeds here. It 

 is a native of the Canary Islands. 



The fifth has upright, shrubby stems, about 

 three feet high. The leaves are lanceolate, blunt, 

 silky, placed closely on every side the stem ; 

 they are near two inches long, and a quarter of 

 an inch broad. The flowers are produced in 

 clusters at the top of the stem, sitting very close; 

 they are of a pale rose-colour, and come out in 

 June and July, but do not perfect seeds in this 

 climate. 



The sixth species has a round perennial stem, 

 hispid, prostrate, creeping, putting forth scattered, 

 oblong, acuminate tubers, purple or pale-colour- 

 ed on the outside. The leaves are angular, on 

 long petioles. The flowers are purple, lateral, 

 large, three or thereabouts together, on upright 

 peduncles. It is a native of both Indies, &c. 



Culture. — All the annual kinds are easily raised, 

 by sowing the seed in the early spring months 

 in patches, in the places where they are to 

 flower, four or five seeds in each, half an inch 

 deep. When the plants are an inch or two 

 high, they should be thinned out, so as to leave 

 but two or three of the best in each patch, ma- 

 naging them afterwards as other plants of similar 

 growth. 



The perennial species, which are tender, are 

 mostlv increased by layers from the young shoots 

 in the spring, which take root ireely in three or 

 four months : cuttings of the young shoots also 

 grow freely in a shady border, when planted dur- 

 ing the summer months. Suckers taken from the 

 root also make good plants when planted in the 

 same way. They should be kept in pots of rich 

 earth, and managed in the same way as gera- 

 niums, myrtles, and other similar plants. 



