Convolvulus tragacanthoides

Nomenclature

Accepted name/Authority/Place of publication:

Convolvulus tragacanthoides Turczaninow, Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 5: 201. 1832.

Synonyms:

Convolvulus fruticosus Pallas f. tianschanica Palibin

C. spinifer M. Popov

Description

Habit:

Subshrubs forming ± compact cushions, silvery sericeous, 4–10(–15) cm tall. Stems densely branched; twigs hard, spinescent; flowering branches more elongate, not spinescent.

Leaves:

Leaves sessile, linear, rarely oblanceolate, 5–20 × 1–4 mm, base attenuate, apex rounded.

Inflorescences:

Pedicel 2–5 mm.

Flowers:

Flowers 2–6, terminal, rarely solitary, paired spines absent. Sepals elliptic or oblong-obovate, 5–8 mm, abaxial surface dull yellow tomentose-villous, apex short acuminate. Corolla pink, funnelform, 1.5–2.5 cm, midpetaline bands densely pubescent; limb shallowly 5-lobed. Stamens unequal; filaments dilated basally. Ovary pubescent; stigmas linear.

Fruits:

Capsule globose, 4–6 mm, pubescent apically.

Seeds:

Capsule globose, 4–6 mm, pubescent apically.

Author:

Fang R.C. & G. Staples

References:

Fang R.C., G. Staples, et al. 1995. Convolvulaceae in P. Raven & C.Y. Wu (eds.) Flora of China 16: 271–325.

Biogeography, Ecology and Natural History

Distribution:

China (Gansu, Hebei, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

Ecology:

Dry pebbly and stony
soils, deserts, rock crevices

Phenology:

Flw. May-Jul.

Author:

Fang R.C. & G. Staples

References:

Fang R.C., G. Staples, et al. 1995. Convolvulaceae in P. Raven & C.Y. Wu (eds.) Flora of China 16: 271–325.

Other information

Common names and uses:

ci xuan hua (Chinese).

General comments:

Sa’ad (loc. cit. p. 77) used Convolvulus spinifer M. Popov for this distinctive species; Grigor’ev (Fl. URSS 19: 15. 1953) had placed this name in synonymy with C. tragacanthoides Turczaninow, the earlier name.