442 



RUMPHIUS'S HERBARIUM AMBOINENSE 



plate 157, which is supposed to represent the second species 

 "rubra" of Rumphius, I take to represent the same form as figure 

 2, that is, typical Merremia peltata (Linn.) Merr., but it may 

 prove to be Merremia nymphaeifolia (Blume) Hallier f. (see 

 below, under Ipomoea rumphii Miq.). 



OPERCULINA S. Manso 



OPERCULINA TURPETHUM (Linn.) S. Manso Enum. Subst. Braz. (1836) 

 16. 



Convolvulus turpethum Linn. Sp. PL (1753) 155. 



Baiatta mammosa Rumph. Herb. Amb. 5: 370 p. p., et t. 131 p. p. 



Nothing corresponding to this plant as described and figured 

 by Rumphius, wholly or in part, appears in our Amboina collec- 

 tions. Batatta mammosa Rumph. is apparently a composite 

 species, the flowers and leaves of a convolvulaceous plant being 

 figured with the tubers of a different plant attached. From 

 the figure of the tubers, as given by Rumphius, this part of the 

 drawing is almost certainly referable to Dioscorea, not to the 

 Convolvulaceae. The figure of the leaves and flowers agrees very 

 closely with the common and widely distributed Operculina tur- 

 pethum S. Manso, and I believe this to be the correct disposition 

 of Batatta mammosa Rumph., at least for the most part. The de- 

 scription of the flowers also applies very closely and does not 

 apply so well to any other species of Convolvulaceae known to 

 me. The following part of the description is especially signi- 

 ficant : 



Flores primo sunt oblonga, acuminata, & viridia capita instar Capsici 

 fructus, diuque clausa manent, dein sese aperiunt in albos campaniformes 

 flores uti in Batatta, sed majores sunt, ac longiore tubo donati, qui profundo 

 insident ac viridi calici, ante meridiem tantum aperti. 



The stems, however, characteristically winged in Operculina 

 turpethum, are described as ''rotunda, & glabra," the leaves as 

 resembling those of Ipomoea batatas Poir., but : 



flaccidiora, * * * glabriora, magisque sinuosa, inferius nullos gerunt 

 angulos, sed rotundas auriculas instar foliorum Sirii [Piper], 



As to the origin of the plant, note : 



Naturalis ejus patria sunt Manilhae, & magna inprimis Mindanau, 

 vulgo Magendanau [i. e. Mindanao] dicta, ex qua Pampangenses quidam 

 hanc in Amboinam adduxerunt. 



The first reduction of Batatta mammosa was suggested by 

 Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. (1790) 108, who placed it under his 

 Convolvulus mammosus. While the specific name is manifestly 



