316 Convolvulacccz Convolviihis. 



parasites with slender thread-like stems and clusters of small 

 flowers. Two species are indigenous, one of which (G. Epithymum) 

 is common on Heather and other dwarf plants, and the other ((7. 

 Europcea) is a stouter plant, much rarer, and usually found on 

 Nettles or Vetches. One or two exotic species have been 

 introduced with Flax and Clover seeds, and have often much 

 damaged the crops they prey upon. 



1. CON VOLVULUS (including Catystegia). 



Annual or perennial herbs with cordate, sagittate or lobate 

 leaves and solitary or racemose axillary showy flowers with 

 or without conspicuous bracts. Corolla funnel- or salver- 

 shaped, plaited. Capsule 2-celled ; cells usually 2-seeded. A 

 large genus comprising nearly 100 species, found in temperate 

 and tropical regions. The name is from the Latin convolvo, 

 to entwine. 



Our native species of Convolvulus are all perennial and very 

 handsome, though they are too common to gain many admirers. 

 G. arv&nsis is the creeping species with white or pink flowers, 

 often a great pest in cultivated ground ; C. sepium is the 

 large white-flowered plant of hedgerows ; and G. Soldanella is 

 a trailing maritime plant with pink or pale purple flowers. 



1. G. tricolor (fig. 177). This charming little South 

 European annual is the Convolvulus minor of seedsmen. 



Fig. 177. Convolvulus tricolor. (J nat. size.) 



Description is hardly necessary. Suffice it to say that it is a 

 decumbent plant with silky foliage and large solitary tricoloured 



