CONVOLVULACE/E 159 



C. sepitim L. (Greater Bindweed) with very large white or rarely pale pink 

 flowers is fairly common in hedges and thickets. June-July. 



C. arvensis L. (Lesser Bindweed) with small pink or white flowers is 

 abundant, and flowers from May-July. 



C. hirsutus Stev. Plant climbing and covered with yellowish spreading 

 hairs. Leaves hastate or sagittate, slightly sinuate, petioled. Flowers yellowish 

 or whitish, solitary or in pairs on the thick axillary peduncles. Bracts linear, 

 far from the flowers. 



Fields and hedge banks, local. May-June. 



C. althceoides L. Plant ascending, but hardly climbing ; covered with 

 spreading hairs. Upper leaves multifid, with narrow segments, the terminal 

 segment being largest ; lower leaves ovate-cordate, obtusely crenate or lobed. 

 Flowers pink, deeper at the throat. Bracts setaceous, distant from the flower. 

 The bracts enveloping the buds are sometimes nearly black. 



Common at borders of fields and roads, and on hill-sides on the littoral. April- 

 June. 



C. lanuginosus Desr. (C. linearis DC.). A very hairy silvery species, 

 with ligneous root-stock. Stem erect, leafy. Leaves small, linear or linear- 

 lanceolate, silky, i-nerved and silvery in colour. Flowers rose, rather small, 

 subsessile, in heads surrounded by a kind of leafy involucre. 



Dry-stony places in the hills, uncommon. May-July. It can be found at 

 about 2000 ft. on the west side of the Col de Bretagne, chaine de la Sainte- 

 Baume. 



C. cantabrica L. A hairy green non-climbing species with ligneous root- 

 stock. Leaves linear-lanceolate, often silky. Bracts linear, at the axils of the 

 branches. Flowers rose, in small cymes at the top of the long peduncles. 



Common in stony places and borders of fields except in the mountain district. 

 May- July. 



C. trico|or L. Annual. Hairy above, bright green, stem nearly prostrate. 

 Leaves sessile, oblong-lanceolate or obovate, veined, ciliate at base. Flowers 

 blue at the rim, then white, with yellow centre, and a spot of deep purple at the 

 throat. Bracts 2, linear. 



Crops and uncultivated places, perhaps native. April-June. 



C. Siculus L. Annual. Hairy, pale green. Stem flexuous, often pros- 

 trate. Leaves ovate-acute, almost truncate or cordate at base, shortly petioled. 

 Flowers blue, small, axillary, solitary on peduncles shorter than the leaves and 

 finally reflexed. Bracts linear-lanceolate, near the flower, often longer than the 

 calyx. Calyx lobes ovate-acuminate, ciliate. 



Rocky hill-sides and screes, rare. April-May. 



CRESSA L. 



C. cretica L. A small greyish-green, hairy plant, much branched and 

 very leafy. Leaves small, ovate-lanceolate, acute, entire, i-nerved, sessile, the 

 stem-leaves cordate at base. Flowers whitish-pink or yellow, small, subsessile, 

 in close heads at the top of the branches. Corolla funnel-shaped with 5 deep 

 ovate-acute lobes. Stamens 5, prominent. Styles 2. 



Damp, sandy places and dried up ditches near the sea, rare. August- 

 September. It is found in all five Continents, but nearly reaches its Northern 

 limit here. 



CUSCUTA L. DODDER. 



C. epithymum Murr. Lesser Dodder. A climbing, parasitic plant with 

 thread-like stems which are often red. Flowers very small and waxy, pale pink 

 or white, in compact, globular heads. Corolla-lobes pointed and spreading. 

 Parasitical upon Thyme, Heath and many other shrubby plants. 



Dry places chiefly on the littoral. June-August. 



