TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Perennial (annual), generally twining or trailing
Leaves alternate
Inflorescence: cyme or flowers solitary in axils; pedicels often with 2 bracts
Flower bisexual, radial; sepals 5, ± free, overlapping, persistent, often unequal; corolla generally showy, generally bell-shaped, ± shallowly 5-lobed, generally pleated and twisted in bud; stamens 5, epipetalous; pistil 1, ovary superior, chambers generally 2, ovules generally 2 per chamber, styles 12
Fruit: generally capsule
Seeds 14(6)
Genera in family: 50 genera, 1,000 species: warm temp to tropical; some cultivated as ornamental
Recent taxonomic note: Recently treated to include Cuscutaceae [Angiosperm Phylogeny Group 1998 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 85:531553].
(Family description, key to genera by L.T. Dempster)
Perennial, subshrub from caudex or rhizome, glabrous to tomentose
Stem very short to high-climbing, generally twisting and twining
Leaf generally > 1 cm, linear to reniform, often sagittate to hastate, rarely deeply divided
Inflorescence: peduncle generally 1-flowered; bractlets small and remote from calyx to large and concealing calyx, sometimes lobed
Flower generally showy; corolla glabrous, white or yellow to pink or purple; ovary chamber 1 (septa generally incomplete), stigma lobes 2, generally swollen, cylindric or oblong, ± flattened
Fruit ± spheric, ± inflated
Seeds generally ± 4
Species in genus: ± 25 species: temp, worldwide
Etymology: (Greek: concealing calyx, from bractlets of some)
Reference: [Brummitt 1980 Kew Bull 35(2):327328]
Intergradation common; intermediate forms often difficult to identify. Appears similar to Convolvulus , but anatomy suggests that the 2 genera are not very closely related.
Native |
Perennial from rhizome, glabrous to hairy
Stem climbing, < 4 m
Leaf: blade generally 48 cm at midrib, lobed
Inflorescence: peduncle < subtending leaf; bractlets attached just below calyx and ± concealing it, entire, flat or keeled
Flower: sepals generally 1018 mm; corolla 3070 mm, white or pink
Chromosomes: 2n=20,22,24
Ecology: Salt and freshwater marshes
Elevation: < 500 m.
Bioregional distribution: Deltaic Great Central Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, South Coast Ranges, South Coast, Transverse Ranges, eastern Mojave Desert
Distribution outside California: temperate regions worldwide
Highly variable, many geographic subspp.