Evolvulus alsinoides | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Solanales |
Family: | Convolvulaceae |
Genus: | Evolvulus |
Species: | E. alsinoides
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Binomial name | |
Evolvulus alsinoides | |
Varieties | |
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Evolvulus alsinoides, commonly known as dwarf morning-glory and slender dwarf morning-glory, is flowering plant from the family Convolvulaceae. It has a natural pantropical distribution encompassing tropical and warm-temperate regions of Australasia, Indomalaya, Polynesia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas.[1]
It was first described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus as Convolvulus alsinoides.[2][3] In 1762, he transferred it to the new genus, Evolvulus.[2][4]
It is a herbaceous plant, annual or perennial with numerous prostrate or ascending stems, slender, with appressed and spreading hairs. The leaves, petiolate or subsessile, are 0.7 to 2.5 cm long and 5 to 10 mm long.
The flowers are isolated or grouped in pauciflorous cymes, borne by filiform peduncles, 2.5 to 3.5 cm long. The calyx is formed by villous, lanceolate sepals 3 to 4 mm long. The rounded corolla, with pentameric symmetry, blue in color, rarely white, is 7 to 10 mm in diameter. The stamens, with filiform filaments, are united at the base of the corolla tube. The ovary, glabrous, is surmounted by two free styles. The fruit is a globular capsule, with four valves, generally containing four seeds that are black and smooth.
The species inhabits a wide range of habitats, from marshland and wet forests to deserts. A number of varieties and subspecies are recognised. It may become a weed in some situations. It is one of the plants included in Dasapushpam, the ten sacred flowers of Kerala.[citation needed]
This herb used in traditional medicine of East Asia for its purported psychotropic and nootropic properties.[5] although such claims are not medically verified.
Chemical compounds isolated from E. alsinoides include scopoletin, umbelliferone, scopolin and 2-methyl-1,2,3,4-butanetetrol.[6]