CONVOLVULUS. 



med. t. 195. Hedges and bushy places in Greece and the 

 Levant. 



Root perennial, fusiform, very long, fleshy, with an acrid cathartic 

 juice. Stems numerous, annual, branching, slender, round, smooth, 

 twining, very slightly angular near the ends. Leaves stalked, sagittate 

 oblong, acute, entire, quite smooth, truncate and angular at the base, 

 with acute spreading lobes. Peduncles solitary, 3-flowered, scarcely 

 twice so long as the leaves. Sepals rather lax, smooth, ovate, repand, 

 obtuse with a reflexed point, coloured at the edge. Corolla very much 

 expanded, pale sulphur yellow, thrice as long as the calyx, an inch and 

 more in length. Stamens erect, converging, thrice as short as the corolla. 

 Style the length of the stamens ; stigmas oblong, erect, parallel, distant, 

 white. The hard brittle ash-coloured resin called Scammony is obtained 

 from the roots of this plant, which however according to Sibthorp 

 is not the S/cfrju/iwvia of Dioscorides, which he refers to Convolvulus 

 farinosus L. The quality of the drug is so extremely uncertain that 

 the gatherers have been supposed to collect different species of Con- 

 volvulus, instead of the genuine one. But it appears from the reports 

 of the Smyrna merchants that this is not the case. The roots of young 

 plants produce a less active juice than old ones, and the colour of 

 the Scammony is more or less intense according as the plants grow in 

 sunny or shady places ; but the quality of the resin is not considered to 

 be affected by this circumstance. The difference in samples proceeds 

 principally from the manipulations of the Jews, and the greater or less 

 care of the peasants in collecting the drug. Upon what ground Dr. 

 Sibthorp referred the Scammony of Dioscorides to Convolvulus farin- 

 osus of Linn, a Madeira plant with slender roots, and no appreciable 

 quantity of resin, cannot now be ascertained, for there is no specimen 

 of the supposed C. farinosus in his herbarium. It is however certain 

 that Sibthorp was under a mistake, and that Aleppo Scammony has 

 nothing to do with the Madeira species. Dioscorides describes Scam- 

 mony as having KXtivag i^aivovrac. TI daavrrjros according to the usual 

 reading, and this certainly does not agree with Convolvulus Scammonia, 

 and would apply better to the Convolvulus sagittifolius Fl. Grcec. 

 t. 193, found in Sarnos and other islands of the Archipelago ; but we 

 know nothing of this plant producing any thing like Scammony. It is 

 more probable that the text of Dioscorides is corrupt, and that the 

 reading in the Aldine edition of 1499 of TraxvrrjTOQ for ^aavTrjTOQ 

 is more genuine ; in which case the description of this ancient author 

 suits Cpnvolvulus Scammonia. 



818. C. althaeoides Linn, sp.pl. 222. Fl. Grceca t. 194. Bot. 

 Mag. t. 359. South of Europe, North of Africa, Levant, 

 climbing among bushes. 



Rootstock creeping, slender. Herbage glaucous, very hairy. Stems 

 branched from the bottom, climbing or spreading, taper, leafy. Lower 

 leaves long-stalked, cordate, obtuse, crenate, repand or somewhat lobed; 

 the upper longer, shorter stalked and deeper divided, pedatifid, with 

 oblong, entire, obtuse segments. Peduncles axillary, longer than the 

 leaves, 1- or occasionally 2-flowered, with a pair of bracts near the 

 upper end. Sepals hairy, ovate, erect. Corolla very much spreading, 

 about 2 inches long, beautiful bright rose-colour. Stigmas 2, spreading. 

 399 



