Convolvulus thunbergii Roem. & Schult., Syst. Veg, ed. 15 bis [Roemer & Schultes] 4: 268. 1819. (Roemer and Schultes 1819: 268).

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 : 70-71

27. Convolvulus thunbergii Roem. & Schult., Syst. Veg, ed. 15 bis [Roemer & Schultes] 4: 268. 1819. (Roemer and Schultes 1819: 268). Figure 6, t. 7-16.

Convolvulus transvaalensis Schltr., J. Bot. 34: 502. 1896. ( Schlechter 1896: 502). Type. SOUTH AFRICA, Mpumalanga, Barberton, E.E.Galpin 430 (BOL, GRA, K!, PRE).

Convolvulus natalensis var. angustifolia C.H.Wright, Fl. Cap. (Harvey) 4(2): 77. 1904. (Wright 1904: 77). Type. SOUTH AFRICA, Mpumalanga, Barberton, E.E.Galpin 430 (holotype K!; isotypes BOL GRA, PRE).

Convolvulus natalensis var. transvaalensis (Schltr.) A.Meeuse, Bothalia 6: 689. 1958 [1957]. ( Meeuse 1958: 689). Type. Based on Convolvulus transvaalensis Schltr.

Type.

SOUTH AFRICA, Cape. Thunberg s.n. (holotype BM000930466! ex Herb. Roemer; isotype UPS).

Description.

Perennial herb, thinly pubescent in all vegetative parts; rootstock thin, woody; stems to 70 cm, prostrate. Leaves petiolate, relatively small, lanceolate to ovate in outline, the central lobe 1- 5 × 0.3-0.8, cm, oblong to lanceolate, dentate, pinnatisect to pinnatifid, characteristically cordate-deltoid, auricles prominent, usually bifurcate, 0.3-1.5 cm, usually dentate, apex acute or obtuse; petioles 3-12 mm. Flowers solitary (rarely paired), axillary, pedunculate, peduncles 0.8-3 cm; bracteoles 3-7 mm, subulate to linear; pedicels 3-12 mm; outer sepals 9-12 × 4-6 mm, ovate, acute to acuminate, inner sepals scarioius, pubescent only in central vertical lines; corolla 1.6-2.8 cm, white or pink, very shallowly lobed, the midpetaline bands pubescent, terminating in a tooth; ovary glabrous; style glabrous, divided c. 7 mm above base; stigmas 4 mm, linear. Capsule glabrous; seeds smooth. [ Meeuse 1958: 690; Meeuse and Welman 2000: 47 (map and plate)]

Distribution.

South Africa: Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo (Moss 7122, Bolus 6847, Cooper 790, Meeuse 9376, Schlechter 3479); Lesotho (Dieterlen 387).

Notes.

Distinguished by its essentially pinnately-nerved central leaf lobe. It seems close to Convolvulus natalensis particularly as represented by Hoggarth in Wood 4179, Dietelen 38751, Galpin 430 & Williams 154, which Meeuse (1958: 689) treated as var. transvaalensis of Convolvulus natalensis and is also close to some forms of Convolvulus austrafricanus differing in little more than the larger flowers. It has been much confused historically being also treated as a variety of Convolvulus capensis ( Baker and Wright 1904).