Convolvulacea.

CONVOLVULUS JALAPA.

JALAP BIND-WEED.

Order I. MONOGYNIA.

Class V. PEntandria.

Gen. Char. Sepals five.

Corolla campanulate. Stamens included. Capsules two-celled. Style one. Stigma two-lobed; the lobes capitate. Ovary two-celled; cells two-seeded.

Spe. Char. Stem twining. Leaves ovate, somewhat heart-shaped, downy on the under side. Peduncles supporting one flower.

The root is perennial, large, ponderous, abounding with a milky juice, of an irregular, oval form and blackish color; the stalks are numerous, shrubby, slender, twisted, striated, rising from ten to twelve feet in height, and twining for support round the neighboring plants; the leaves are various, generally more or less heart-shaped, but often angular, or oblong and pointed, smooth, of a bright green color, and stand alternately upon long footstalks; the flowers stand upon two short branches, sending off two peduncles, each of which supports a single flower, which is large, bell-shaped, entire, plicated, externally of a reddish color, but of a dark purple within; the calyx consists of five oval leaves; these are concave, somewhat indented at their points, and of a pale green color; the filaments are five, slender, short, and the anthers large and yellow; the style is shorter than the stamen; the stigma is round, and the germen oval.

This species of jalap is a native of South America, and flowers in August and September. It derived its name from the city of Xalapa, in the state of Vera Cruz, in the neighborhood of which it grows in