Description
Key Characters:
Growth Form:
Vines.
Stems:
Stems decumbent or climbing, herbaceous, up to several m long, pubescent or glabrous.
Roots:
Leaves:
Leaves simple.
Alternate.
Blades ovate, linear, elliptic, 1–10 cm long, 0.3–4 cm wide.
Apex acute to obtuse.
Base cordate-auriculate, with subtruncate to sagittate, convergent or divergent lobes with acute to obtuse tips.
Surfaces glabrous to tomentose.
Margins entire.
Petiolate or sometimes sessile.
Stipules absent.
Flowers:
Flowers 2–3 in cymes, rarely solitary pedicels 1–14 mm long. Bracts and bracteoles linear, elliptic, or ovate.
Flowers bisexual (perfect), actinomorphic, 5-merous.
Calyx of 5 sepals, distinct, inbricate, chartaceous to soft coriaceous, unequal, the inner 3 often somewhat longer, the outer 2 elliptic, 3–4.5 mm long, upper surface glabrous to tomentose, apex obtuse to acute, usually mucronate, persistent, occasionally accrescent.
Corolla of 5 fused petals; petals white to rose or purple, or blue on the limb and white or purplish within the tube, funnelform, the limb 5-angulate to 5-lobed, the midpetaline bands glabrous or pubescent.
Stamens 5, distinct, included, unequal; filaments inserted on corolla tube base alternate with corolla lobes, glandular pubescent on filament bases; anthers dithecal, oblong, auriculate at base, introrse.
Ovary superior, 2-celled; ovules 4, placentation basal or basal-axile, ovoid to subglobose, glabrous or pubescent; stigmas 2, filiform, papillose; style 1, filiform, simple or bifid.
Fruit:
Capsules usually brown; 4–valved; chartaceous; ovoid to conical–ovoid; glabrous or pubescent; dehiscent by valves; transversely; or irregularly; or indehiscent and berry-like or nut-like.
Seeds 1–4; black to dark brown; trigonous or rounded; smooth or verrucose; glabrous; endosperm absent or scanty; cartilaginous; cotyledons usually foliaceous.
Ploidy:
2n = 24; 48; 50
Habitat:
Sparingly naturalized in low elevation; dry areas.
Elevation Range: