Evolvulus alsinoides

Plant: Perennial herb; stems prostrate or ascending, 6-50 cm long, loosely appressed-pilose with some hairs spreading Leaves: ovate, oblong, or elliptic to lanceolate, 8-22 mm long, 3.5-11 mm wide, the apex obtuse and mucronulate, the base acute to rounded, sparsely to densely pilose on both surfaces, with strongly and loosely appressed, soft, short, grayish trichomes INFLORESCENCE: 1-2 flowers on filiform peduncles, shorter or longer than leaves Flowers: on pedicels 2-4 mm long, short-pilose; bracteoles linear-subulate; sepals lanceolate, 2-2.5 mm long, acuminate, short-pilose; corollas pale blue or white, rotate, (5-)7-10 mm wide; filaments 2-3 times as long as the anthers; ovary globose to ovoid, glabrous Fruit: FRUITS globose, 2.5 mm long, 4-valved, glabrous. SEEDS 1-4, ovoid, tan to brown, glabrous Misc: In disturbed often rocky sites; 750-1500 m (2500-5000 ft); Apr-Sep REFERENCES: Austin, Daniel F. 1998. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Convolvulaceae 30(2): 61.

Austin 1998

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Erect or prostrate spreading herb, dusty green in color, pubescent to wooly with appressed, ascending hairs. Leaves: Ovate to elliptic with obtuse, acute or acuminate tips, margins entire, alternate, pubescent to wooly, 8-22 mm long. Flowers: White or blue with white centers, rotate (wheel-shaped) flowers with rounded, sometimes cleft petals, to 10 mm wide, filaments 2-3 times as long as the anthers, borne on slender, delicate pedicels arising from the leaf axils. Fruits: Globose, 4-valved, glabrous capsules, with 1-4 tan or brown ovoid seeds. Ecology: Found in disturbed areas and on rocky substrates; 2,500-5,500 ft (762-1676 m); flowers April-September. Distribution: s AZ, NM, sw TX, MO, AL and FL; south to Notes: Our Evolvulus species are often low-growing, have alternate, usually linear to ovate, entire leaves; blue, white or purple flowers often the shape shallow bells or funnels (salverform, rotate, funnelform) that arise from axils; and capsules. E. alsinoides is a perennial with many branching stems which can become tangled and messy, having a nest-like appearance; dense, long, silver hairs all over; stems below flowers (peduncles) which are longer than subtending leaves (shorter to absent in nuttalianus and sericeus) blue flowers 5-10 mm wide (12-22 mm in arizonicus), which are smaller than the other species in Arizona. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Evolvulus comes from the Latin evolvo, meaning to unroll, while alsinoides means resembling a species of the genus Alsine. Synonyms: None Editor: LCrumbacher 2011, FSCoburn 2015

Slender, prostrate or ascending, 2-4 dm, thinly appressed-hairy; lvs scattered, commonly shorter than the internodes, spreading, oblong, 1-2 cm; fls numerous, either solitary or few together at the end of filiform, spreading peduncles longer than the subtending lvs; cor pale blue to white, rotate, 6 mm wide; 2n=26. A weed in the warmer parts of the world, intr. in Mo. Spring-summer.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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