240 coNVOLVCLACEiE. [Jacquemontia. 



ianthinus, HanceinWaZp. Ann. iii. 13. C.pentanthus,Jaxxi.; Bot. Eeg. 439 ; 

 Bot. Mag. t. 2151. 



Naturalized in ravines above Victoria, Champion; also ffance. It is a West Indian spe- 

 cies, frequently cultivated in tropical gardens. In the dried state it is scarcely to be distin- 

 guished from the Comolml-us paniflorus, Vahl, which is common in tropical Asia, and is 

 also a Jacquemontia, but has rather smaller white flowers. 



5. B VOLVULUS, Linn. 



Corolla campanulate or tubular at the base, angular or lobed. Ovary %■ 

 celled, with 2 ovules, in each cell. Styles 2, filiform, distinct from the base, 

 and bifid at the top. Pruit a dry capsule. — Herbs, not twining, annual or 

 with a perennial sometimes woody stock. Leaves entire, usually small, and 

 nearly sessile. Flowers small, on axillary peduncles, or in terminal spikes or 

 racemes. 



A considerable tropical American genus, of which one or two species are spread also over 

 the warmer regions of the Old World. 



1. E. alsiuoides, lAnn.; Ohois. in DC. Prod. ix. 447. A perennial, 

 with a short almost woody stock, but often flowering the first year so as to 

 appear annual, with numerous slender stems 6 in. to 1 ft. long ; the whole 

 plant more or less silky- hairy. Leaves usually oblong or lanceolate, sessile or 

 nearly so, 3 to 6 Unp-s long, but varying from ovate to almost linear, obtuse or 

 acute. Mowers small, pale blue or white, 1 to 8 together on slender axillary 

 peduncles longer than the leaves, with a small bract at each pedicel. Sepals 

 narrow, acute. Corolla almost rotate, not 3 lines diameter. — -S. linifolius, 

 Linn. ; Chois. I.e. 449, and probably some others enumerated by Choisy. M. 

 pudicus, Hance in Walp. Ann. iii. 115. 



Roadsides and grassy places, Hance ; also Wright. Common within the tropics both in 

 the New and the Old World. 



6. DICHONDRA, Forst. 



CoroUa campanulate, deeply 5-lobed. Ovary of 2 distinct carpels, with 1 

 ovule in each. Styles 2, distinct from the base, with thickened stigmas. 

 Fruit of 1 or 2 membranous 1-seeded capsules. — Prostrate herbs, with small 

 flowers. 



A genus containing only one other South American species, closely allied to the following. 



1, D. repens, ^,orst. ; Chois. in DC. Prod. ix. 451. A slender creep- 

 ing perennial, rootin at the nodes, usually hoary with a minute pubescence, 

 often silky. Leaves orbicular or reniform, 4 to 8 lines or rarely 1 in. diameter, 

 on long petioles, and quite entire. Flowers solitary, on axillary pedicels, 2 to 

 4 lines long. Sepals obovate, scarcely 1 line long. Corolla rather shorter, 

 yellow. Capsules also shorter than the calyx. 



Hongkong, Hance. Widely diffused over the tropical and subtropical regions both of the 

 New and the Old World. 



7. CUSCUTA, Linn. 



Corolla campanulate, ovoid or globular, with a short 5-lobed or rarely 4- 

 lobed limb. Anthers usually nearly sessile, with a scale below each in the 



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