219 
CONVOLVULUS PENTANTHUS. 
(five-flowered bindweed.) 
CLASS, order. 
PENTANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 
NATURAL ORDER. 
CONVOLVULACE^. 
Generic Character. — Calyx five-parted, naked, or with tvi^o small imbricated bracts, persistent. Corolla 
monopetalous, hypogynous, regular, campanulate, with five folds down the centre ; limb five-lobed, 
deciduous. Stamens inserted in the bottom of the corolla, one between each of its lobes, shorter 
than the limb. Germen two -celled ; cells two- seeded ; surrounded at the base by an annular gland. 
Style undivided. Stigmas two, filiform. Capsule valvate ; valves with an opposite, angular margin, 
base of the dissepiment free, seed-bearing. 
Specific Character.— <S'/ms twining, shrubby. Leaves oblong-cordate, acuminate, with a slightly 
sinuous margin, smooth. Peduncles umbellate, frequently five-fl.owered. Fhwers nearly sessile, 
small, bright blue. Calyx ciliated. 
Considering the abundance and extreme beauty of Convolvulaceous plants, it 
is possible that many will feel disposed to treat slightingly the interesting subject 
of our present figure. This is a feeling which we are desirous of removing ; since 
in no respect is C. pentanthus inferior to any of its allies, save in the magnitude of 
its flowers ; while this is fully counterbalanced by their astonishing profusion, and 
the peculiar adaptation of the species to ornamental i)urposes. 
Of all the plants of this tribe within the range of our information, there is not 
one the habit of which may be termed neat, or which can be easily rendered 
symmetrical by particular treatment. A striking laxness of stem, and rapidity of 
growth, characterize the whole of the commoner climbing species of Ipomoea and 
Convolvulus; and whether they are kept in the greenhouse or admitted to the 
stove, their tendency to occupy too large a space, without at the same time 
covering it pleasingly, is almost always found to be uncontrollable. 
To C. pentanthus alone can we attach a character which is sufficiently tractable 
in the particular thus mentioned ; and even this species requires a different mode of 
culture from that usually practised, to enable it to exhibit the feature which we 
consider so desirable. The distinction here pointed out between this and other 
