Convolvulus jefferyi Verdc., Kew Bull. 12: 344. 1957. (Verdcourt 1957: 344).

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 : 124

95. Convolvulus jefferyi Verdc., Kew Bull. 12: 344. 1957. (Verdcourt 1957: 344). Figure 14, t. 8-12

Type.

KENYA, Jeffery 749 (holotype EA; isotype K).

Description.

Perennial herb with prostrate or twining stems to 50 cm, vegetative parts adpressed pilose, when young with silvery hairs. Leaves shortly petiolate, 1.5-4 × 0.35-1(-2) cm, oblong, ovate or elliptic, apex rounded to acute, base cuneate to subhastate, margin entire; petioles 1-4 mm long. Flowers 2-5 in pedunculate, bracteate heads; peduncles 1-4.5 cm; bracteoles 6-14 × 2-8 mm, lanceolate or oblong; outer sepals 5-9 × 1-4 mm, elliptic to obovate, villous; corolla 8-10 mm long, blue, unlobed, midpetaline bands pubescent; ovary glabrous; style glabrous, divided 5 mm above base, stigmas 3-3.5 mm long, linear. Capsule glabrous; seeds glabrous, tuberculate. [ Verdcourt 1963: 40]

Distribution.

East Africa, coastal sand, coral outcrops and grassland near the sea: Tanzania (Tanner 2211); Kenya (Irwin 271, Greenway 10454); Somalia (Terry 3466);?Mozambique ( Verdcourt 1982: 483).

Notes.

This species is not so distinct from Convolvulus capituliferus differing principally in its perennial habit and long-pedunculate heads. Three collections (Tanner 2338, Hicks 808, Kokwaro 15114) are intermediate having subsessile inflorescences combined with a clearly perennial habit. The first is from Mlangoni in Tanga Province in Tanzania while the last two are from the Tsavo National Park area (3° 17'S, 38° 32' E), all in the interior behind coastal Convolvulus jefferyi but some distance from any known station for Convolvulus capituliferus , which grows in northern Kenya.