Merremia hirta var. hirta (L.) Merr.

Variety

Angiosperms > Solanales > Convolvulaceae > Merremia > Merremia hirta

Characteristics

A twining or prostrate herb; the prostrate specimens rooting at the nodes or sometimes at the internodes. Stems slender, 20-50 cm long, filiform, sparsely patently hirsute or glabrous. Leaves very variable in form, linear, linear-oblong, oblong-lanceolate, oblong to ovate-oblong or ovate, occasionally orbicular to subquadrate; the narrow leaves 3-6 by ⅓-1 cm, 5-12 times as long as broad, the broad ones 1½-4½ by 4/5-2½ cm, 1-5 times as long as broad, rounded, truncate, more or less cordate or hastate at the base with small or large, obtuse, spreading or parallel basal lobes, obtuse to slightly emarginate and mucro-nulate at the apex, the surfaces glabrous or sparsely hairy beneath and along the margins, sometimes also above, rarely the indumentum is more developed, especially on stems, petioles, leafblades and basal part of peduncles; petiole short, (1-)3-8(-20) mm. Peduncles filiform, variable in length, 1-7½ cm, glabrous or with a few hairs near the base. Flowers 1 to few, mostly up to 4, in some specimens to 8; the ramifications of the peduncle monochasial (racemelike and unilateral), or the first ramification dichasial and the subsequent ones monochasial. Pedicels 3-5 mm, glabrous. Bracts ovate, obtuse, 1-2 mm long, glabrous, persistent. Flower-buds oblong to elliptic, obtuse. Sepals glabrous, unequal, the 2 outer ones shorter, elliptic, obtuse, 3-4 mm long, the 3 inner oblong or elliptic-oblong, obtuse, 4½-6 mm long; sepals slightly enlarged in fruit, to 6-7 mm, with more or less prominent nerves. Corolla broadly funnel-shaped, 1½-2 cm long, pale-yellow or whitish, glabrous, midpetaline bands in dried state with distinct dark nerves. Filaments hairy at the base; anthers spirally twisted. Ovary glabrous, 2-celled. Capsule broadly ovoid to globular, with a thin papery wall, smooth, glabrous, crowned by the base of the style, ca 6 mm long, 1-celled, 4-valved. Seeds 4 or less, dark brown or black, glabrous or sparsely floccose at the margins and the hilum.
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Growth form herb
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Sexuality hermaphrodite
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Environment

In open grasslands, along waysides, in dry rice-fields, from sea-level to 1100 m.
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Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

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Cultivation

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Distribution

Merremia hirta var. hirta world distribution map, present in Australia, China, India, and Malaysia

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:125919-3
WFO ID wfo-0001372118
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Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Merremia hirta var. hirta