79 



was long preoccupied by a species of Vahl, it was changed by 

 Choisy to Iponioea Blancoi, which name has since been used. 

 The compilers of the third edition of the Flora dc Filipinas, not 

 suspecting the identity of Blanco's species, enumerated and 

 figured it as /. coviumtata Roem. & Schult., to which it is very 

 closely allied. By Choisy, who knew it from the original de- 

 scription only, it was included among the species insufficiently 

 known, but recently abundant material has been collected, and 

 some time ago Mr. Percy Wilson called my attention to its re- 

 semblance to the tropical American /. triloba. Investigation 

 showed that nearly parallel series of its somewhat wide variations 

 occurred in both regions, and that /. Blancoi must be reduced. 

 Hallier has recognized it as American, but apparently without 

 definite identification. 



The synonymy as regards Philippine botany, is as follows : 

 Ipomoea triloba L. Sp. PI. i6i. 1753. 

 Convohmhis dcntatiis Blanco, Fl. Filip. 89. 1837; ed. 2. 6^. 



1845; ed. 3. I: 123. 1877; Walp. Linnaea 16: Litt.-ber. 



15. 1842. Not C. dcntatiis Vahl, Symb. Bot. 3 : 25. 1794. 

 /. Blancoi Choisy in DC. Prodr. 9: 389. 1845 ." Miq. Fl. Ind. 



Bat. 2: 619. 1857; F.-Vill. Noviss. App. Fl. Philipp. T42. 



1883; Merr. Bur. Govt. Lab. Publ. 6: 26. 1904; Merr. 



loc. cit. 27: 63. 1905. Merr. Philipp. Jour. Sci. i : Suppl. 



119. 1906. 

 /. counnutata Naves in Fl. Filip. ed. ^. pi. ji. i?>77 ; F.-Vill. 



Noviss. App. Fl. Philipp. 142. 1883. Not /. connnntata 



Roem. & Schult. Syst. 4: 228. 1819. 

 /. Batatas Usteri, Viertel. Naturf. Ges. Zurich 50: 122. 1905. 



Not /. Batatas Poir. Encycl. 6: 14. 1804. 



Since, in Asia, this species seems to be confined to the Philip- 

 pines, there can be no doubt that the original home is in America. 

 But in Blanco's time it was already very common in the former 

 region, so that it must have been introduced at an early date. 

 It is now known there from several collections, those represented 

 in the herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden being : 



Luzon : Bauang, Province of Union, Elmer 560J, 5726 ; Ma- 

 nila, Meji'ill j8o, 6j8 ; Pasig, Usteri ^6/f. ; Los Bafios, Province 

 of Laguna, Williains 202^, Elmer Szj i. 



