Convolvulus kilimandschari Engl., Abh. Koenigl . Akad. Wiss. Berlin 2: 348. 1892. (Engler 1892: 348).

Wood, John R. I., Williams, Bethany R. M., Mitchell, Thomas C., Carine, Mark A., Harris, David J. & Scotland, Robert W., 2015, A foundation monograph of Convolvulus L. (Convolvulaceae), PhytoKeys 51, pp. 1-282 : 67-68

23. Convolvulus kilimandschari Engl., Abh. Koenigl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 2: 348. 1892. (Engler 1892: 348). Figure 6, t. 1-6

Convolvulus schimperi Engl., Abh. Königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 2: 347. 1892, nom. illeg., non Convolvulus schimperi Boiss. (1849). ( Engler 1892: 347). Type. ETHIOPIA, Begemeder, Schimper 1465 (holotype B†; isotype K).

Convolvulus kilimandschari var. glabratus Hallier f., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 18: 109. 1893 [ “1894”]. ( Hallier 1894: 109). Type. Based on Convolvulus schimperi Engl.

Convolvulus cephalantha Baker, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1894: 69. 1894. ( Baker 1894: 69). Type. TANZANIA, Kilimanjaro, H.H. Johnston s.n. (holotype K).

Bonamia althoffiana Dammer, Pflanzenw. Ost-Afrikas, C 329. 1895. ( Engler 1895: 329). Type. TANZANIA, Kilimanjaro, Kilema, Volkens 1559 (holotype B†; isotype BR).

Hewittia kilimandschari (Engl.) Hallier f., Bull. Herb. Boiss 5: 1008. 1897. ( Hallier 1897: 1008). Type. Based on Convolvulus kilimandschari Engl.

Convolvulus keniensis Standl., Smithsonian Misc. Collect. 68(5): 11. 1917. ( Standley 1917: 11). Type. KENYA, western slopes, Mt. Kenya, Mearns 1294 (holotype US).

Calystegia glabrata (Hallier f.) Chiov., Racc. Bot. Miss. Consol. Kenya 85. 1935. ( Chiovenda 1935: 85). Type. Based on Convolvulus kilimandschari var. glabratus Hallier f.

Type.

TANZANIA, Kilimanjaro, H. Meyer 302 (holotype B†); TANZANIA, Kilimanjaro [Kilimanscharo], 4 miles below Bismarck Hut, 16 Jan 1955, B. Verdcourt 1207 (neotype EA, designated by Verdcourt 1963: 38); isoneotypes FT, K!, MO, PRE).

Description.

Vigorous twining herb with stems reaching 2 m, vegetative parts varying from densely hirsute to subglabrous. Leaves petiolate, 3-8.5 × 1.8-6 cm, ovate-deltoid, acute, margin entire or obscurely crenate, base cordate (rarely hastate); petioles 7-30 mm. Flowers in many-flowered, axillary, pedunculate, bracteate heads; peduncles 1-13 cm long; bracteoles 5-10 × 3-7.5 mm, ovate, acute, scarious, tardily caducous; pedicels very short, 2-4 mm long; outer sepals 9-13 × 5-8 mm, broadly ovate, acute to apiculate, villous, becoming scarious; corolla 2.5-3(-4) cm long, very wide at the mouth, white, purplish or pink with a dark centre, unlobed, midpetaline bands pubescent; ovary glabrous; style glabrous, divided c. 7 mm above base; stigmas 2-2.5 mm, linear, slightly shorter than the style arm. Capsule glabrous; seeds glabrous, the surface with wavy, white-topped ridges. [ Verdcourt 1963: 38-39 (plate); Sebsebe 2006 182]

Distribution.

Mountains of eastern Africa from 1800 to 3500 m:. Ethiopia (Friis et al. 7359, de Wilde 8973); Kenya (Fries & Fries 459, Greenway & Kanuri 13886, Tweedie 1738); Uganda (Wesche 797); Tanzania (Verdcourt 1553, Richards 24124).

Notes.

A very distinctive afromontane species because of its many-flowered capitate inflorescence but variable in indumentum, plants from Ethiopia commonly less hirsute and with slightly larger corollas than those from further south.