Flora Medica

CONVOLVULACE-ffi.than the corolla. Stigma capitate. The roots furnish a resinoussubstance used as a purgative in St. Domingo. Its use is not howeververy safe, as it is apt to produce super-purgations.BATATAS.Sepals 5. Corolla campanulate. Stamens included. Style 1.Stigma capitate, 2-lobed. Ovary 4-celled; cells 1 -seeded. Capsule4-celled, or by abortion 3-celled.815. B. paniculata Chois. conv. or. 54. Convolvulus paniculatusLinn. sp. pi. 223. Roxb.fi. ind. i. 478. Ipomaea paniculataBot. Reg. 62. IpomaBa insignis JBot. t.Repos. 636. Bot.Reg. t 75. Bot. Mag. t. 1790. East Indies, New Holland,Java, Africa, Tropics of America, in hedges and thickets.Root perennial, tuberous. Stems and branches perennial; youngshoots round and smooth. Leaves stalked, palmate, from 3 to 6 incheseach way; the lobes generally 5, divided little more than half waydown, broad-lanceolate, entire, smooth. Peduncles axillary, erect, aslong as the petioles, umbellate. Flowers numerous, large, of a beautifuldark reddish purple. Capsules 4-celled. Seeds woolly, all round.The large tuberous root is cathartic and is used as such by the nativesof the places where it grows.Sepals 5.PHARB1TIS.Corolla campanulate or campanulate-funnel-shaped.Style 1. Stigma capitate, granular. Ovary 3-celled or rarely4-celled ; cells 2-seeded.816. P. Nil Chois. convolv. or. 57. Convolvulus nil Linn,sp. plant. 219. Ipomaea caerulea Roxb.fi. Ind. i. 501. Bot. Reg.t. 276 All over the tropics, everywhere;various parts of theEast Indies ;South Sea Islands.Stems and branches twining, annual, round, hairy, from 6 to 12 feetlong, as thick as a crow's quill. Leaves stalked, broad, cordate, 3-lobed,downy; from 2 to 4 inches long, acute. Peduncles axillary, the length ofthe petioles, round, hairy, from 2 to 3-flowered. Bracts and sepals linear.Flowers large, of a beautiful light, but bright blue. Stigma sub-globose,large, glandular, 3-lobed. Capsule much shorter than the calyx, smooth,3-celled, with 2 seeds in each cell. Seeds sold in apothecaries' shopsof Calcutta, under the name of " Kala dana," as a purgative. Said tobe an effectual quick cathartic. Seeds are roasted like coffee, powdered,and administered in doses of from 30 to 40 grains, in any convenientvehicle. Roxb.CONVOLVULUS.Sepals 5. Corolla campanulate. Style 1. Stigmas 2, linearcylindrical,often revolute. Ovary 2-celled, 4-seeded. Capsule2-celled.817. C. Scammonia Linn, sp.pl. 218. Woodv. med. hot. i. t. 5.Flora Grceca t. 192. Nees and Eberm. handb. ii. 633. plant.398