CONVOLVULACEAE

Herbs, undershrubs, shrubs, rarely trees, often creepers, twiners or climbers, occasionally parasites; often with milky juice. Leaves alternate, simple, entire, dissected, often palmately-lobed, rarely palmately compound, occasionally reduced, exstipulate. Inflorescence terminal or axillary, simple or compound cymose. Flowers actinomorphic, usually bisexual, 5-merous, hypogynous, often showy. Sepals 5, free or basally connate, often persistent. Corolla campanulate, funnelform, rotate or salverform, variously coloured, usually violet/purple, often plicate in bud; limb 5-lobed or 5- angled, rarely deeply divided. Stamens 5, inserted in corolla tube, included or exserted, alternating with corolla lobes; filaments filiform, equal or unequal; anthers usually introrse. Disc below the ovary, annular or disc-like, sometimes almost obsolete. Carpels 2, syncarpous; ovary superior, 1-2(-4)- locular, usually 2 ovules per loculus; style usually 1, (rarely 2), occasionally bilobed or divided into 2, filiform; stigma capitate, bilobed or stigmas 2. Fruit a capsule, 2-4-valved, circumscissile or breaking up irregularly, less often a berry, or nut, indehiscent. Seeds usually trigonous, smooth or pubescent.

57 genera and about 1650 species