Convolvulus erinaceus Ledeb., in Eichwald, Pl. Nov. Cauc. Casp. 11. 1831. (Eichwald 1831:11).

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 : 143-144

120. Convolvulus erinaceus Ledeb., in Eichwald, Pl. Nov. Cauc. Casp. 11. 1831. (Eichwald 1831:11). Figure 16, t. 1-7

Convolvulus excelsus R.R.Mill, Edinburgh J. Bot. 70: 368. 2013. ( Mill 2013: 368). Type. SAUDI ARABIA, Collenette 6385 (holotype E00699569!; isotype K!).

Type.

AZERBAIJAN (?), "Caspian Sea", Eichwald 474 (lectotype LE!, sheet labelled 474 and with Sa’ad’s annotation, designated here; isolectotypes HAL?, LE!).

Description.

Much-branched undershrub with somewhat zigzag, rigid branches forming an intricate ball-like plant to 1(-3) m in height, the lower part sometimes with a distinct trunk up to 1.5 cm in diameter; young stems sericeous, branching at 80-90°. Basal leaves 10-30 × 1 mm, stem leaves usually few, sessile, 6-7 (-20) × 0.5-1 mm, linear, pubescent. Flowers usually solitary (rarely paired) borne on thin, rigid peduncles 4-15 (-20)mm long; bracteoles 1 mm, triangular, scale-like, puberulent; pedicels 1-5 mm, puberulent, often recurved; outer sepals 3-4 × 2.5 mm, elliptic-obovate, round ed to emarginate, sericeous-pubescent; inner sepals narrower, 1-1.5 mm wide; corolla 0.6-0.9 cm long, deeply lobed to about quarter of its length, white or pink, midpetaline bands narrowly triangular, pubescent, terminating in a point; ovary sericeous; style glabrous, very short, divided c. 2 mm above base, stigmas c. 1.5 mm; capsule pubescent or glabrous, 1-seeded; seeds pubescent. [ Sa’ad 1967: 95 p. p. excl. Convolvulus hamadae and Convolvulus erinaceus var. kermanensis ; Petrov 1935: 137 (plate); Nowroozi 2002: 32 (plate), 101 (map); Collenette 1999: 228 as Convolvulus excelsus (photo); Grigoriev 1953: 11 (plate)]

Distribution.

Russia: Dagestan (Teimurov s.n. [20/6/2011]), “Siberia” (Turczaninov); Azerbaijan (Shipzchinsky s.n. [14/7/1925]); Uzbekistan (Neustreuva-Knorring 3769, Rodin & Arkadyev s.n. [8/5/1948]); Turkmenistan (Androsov s.n. [10/7/1932], Babrov 535, Granitov in Herb. Fl. As. Med.442; Kirgizstan (Minkwitz 376); Tadjistan (Nikitin 2780); Kazakhstan (Dubrayansky 852, 856, Afannasiev 3767, Berg s.n. [28/6/1900], Spiridonow s.n. [1914], Rodin et al. 468); Northern Iran (Reino Alava & Iranshahr 23405, Furse 7614); Afghanistan (Aitchison 701, Koie 2225, Neubauer 4206), Pakistan (?), Saudi Arabia (Collenette 6385). A plant of sandy and stony desert.

Notes.

Distinguished by the sericeous stem, short obtuse sepals, small, lobed corolla and tendency to have short rigid peduncles giving the plant a characteristic intricate habit.

The recently described Convolvulus excelsus from Saudi Arabia is distinguished principally by its tall habit and disjunct distribution. However neither its height nor its disjunction is as distinctive as Mill (2013) suggests, there being records from scattered locations in many countries (see above) and images and descriptions of specimens at least 1 m high.