Convolvulus capituliferus Franch., Sert. Somal. 41. 1882. (Franchet 1882: 41).

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 : 123

94. Convolvulus capituliferus Franch., Sert. Somal. 41. 1882. (Franchet 1882: 41).

Type.

SOMALIA, Recoil 73 (holotype P).

Description.

Annual or briefly perennial herb with a small tap root, similar to Convolvulus rhyniospermus ; stems usually numerous, decumbent or ascending from the base to 40 cm, but usually much less; vegetative parts pubescent. Leaves subsessile, 0.5-6 × 0.2-1.8 cm, oblong or, less commonly, oblanceolate or elliptic, obtuse and sometimes mucronulate, entire, cuneate at the base into an indistinct petiole. Flowers many, in subsessile, bracteate heads forming an elongate leafy inflorescence; peduncles 0-0.4 mm; bracteoles 4-9 × 1-3 mm, linear, oblong-elliptic or lanceolate, acute, ciliate especially in the lower half; sepals 5-7 × 0.5-2.5 mm, ovate, acute, pilose and strongly ciliate, the outer sepals c. 1 mm wider than the inner ones; corolla blue, 7-12 mm long, shallowly lobed, midpetaline bands with a few inconspicuous hairs; ovary glabrous, style glabrous, divided 2.5 mm above base, stigmas linear, 2-3 mm, slightly widened towards apex and sometimes unequal. Capsule glabrous, seeds papillate. [ Verdcourt 1963: 40 (as Convolvulus rhyniospermus ); Verdcourt 1982: 461; Sebsebe 2006 181]

Notes.

This species is quite variable, approaching Convolvulus jefferyi and Convolvulus stenocladus (see discussion under both species) at one extreme and Convolvulus rhyniospermus at the other. Specimens without corollas cannot be safely separated from Convolvulus rhyniospermus . Following Verdcourt (1982), we recognise two infraspecific taxa, their extremes being very different in appearance: