Convolvulus cassius Sam. ex Rech.f., Ark. Bot., a.s., 1: 314. 1950. (Rechinger 1950: 314).

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 : 58-59

13. Convolvulus cassius Sam. ex Rech.f., Ark. Bot., a.s., 1: 314. 1950. (Rechinger 1950: 314). Figure 4, t. 10-16.

Type.

SYRIA, Dinsmore 10127 (holotype S; isotype K!).

Description.

Twining perennial herb, stems angled, glabrous. Leaves petiolate, 3-4 × 2-2.5 cm, ovate-deltoid, obtuse, margin undulate to crenate or weakly lobed, ciliate, base cordate and attenuate onto the petiole, beneath thinly pubescent. Flowers 1-3 in pedunculate axillary cymes; peduncles 4-14 cm, glabrous; bracteoles linear, acute, 6-8 × 1 mm, ciliate; pedicels 0.8-1 cm, thinly pilose with stiff spreading hairs; outer sepals 9-10 × 5-6 mm, oblong-obovate, slightly pandurate, abruptly constricted at apex into a mucro, the apical portion dark-coloured, pilose with stiff brown hairs; inner sepals glabrous, membranous; corolla 3.2 cm, yellow, unlobed, midpetaline bands thinly pilose towards the apex; filaments glandular below; ovary pilose; style thinly pilose, divided 5 mm above the base; stigmas 2 mm. Capsule and seeds not seen. [ Sa’ad 1967: 222]

Distribution.

A rare and very local species of the Syrian border with Turkey, known from a handful of collections: Turkey (?); Syria ( “Latakia” fide Parris 1978: 216; Samuelson 5265).

Notes.

Resembling Convolvulus betonicifolius and similar species but leaves glabrous except for the ciliate margins, which are crenate up to the apex.