Convolvulus aitchisonii C.B.Clarke, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 19: 179. 1882. (Aitchison 1882: 179).

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 : 190

184. Convolvulus aitchisonii C.B.Clarke, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 19: 179. 1882. (Aitchison 1882: 179).

Convolvulus lanuginosus sensu Aitch., Cat. Pl. Punjab Sindh: 98. 1869, non Convolvulus lanuginosus Desr. (1792).

Type.

AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN, Kurram Valley, Aitchison 15 (holotype K!).

Description.

Cushion/hummock forming plant with woody taproot, branched just below the ground surface to produce many very short shoots from which arise flowering stems 1-9 cm high. Leaves aggregated at the shoot tips, sessile, 2-2.5 × 0.2-0.3(-0.4) cm, oblanceolate, acute, margin entire, attenuate at the base, densely villous. Flowers 1-4 in subsessile helicoid cymes, usually reduced to heads which arise in the axils of the upper bracts; bracts 1.5 cm long, oblong, villous; peduncles 0-2 mm; bracteoles 10 × 0.5 mm, linear, acuminate, villous; pedicels absent; outer sepals villous; outer sepals 11-13 × 2-3 mm, ovate acuminate; inner sepals narrower, lanceolate c. 2 mm wide; corolla 1.4-1.5 cm long, cream (?), weakly lobed, midpetaline bands pilose; ovary and style glabrous; style divided c. 3 mm above base, stigmas 4-4.5 mm long; Capsule and seeds not known. [ Sa’ad 1967: 134; Austin and Ghazanfar 1979: 19]

Distribution.

Pakistan (Drummond 14414, Duthie 14984, Rechinger 30916); Afghanistan (Rechinger 35506, 35719).

Notes.

Distinguished by its cushion-like habit and subsessile heads borne on a short stem.