亮叶银背藤 liang ye yin bai teng

Convolvulus splendens Hornemann, Hort. Bot. Hafn. suppl. 123. 1819; Ipomoea splendens (Roxburgh) Sims; Lettsomia splendens Roxburgh.

Shrubs scandent. Stems terete, gray tomentose or mature stems sparsely whitish pubescent or glabrescent. Petiole 5-15 cm, indumentum similar to stems; leaf blade ovate-oblong or elliptic, 12-27 X 5-15 cm, abaxially densely silvery sericeous, adaxially glabrous, base rounded to broadly cuneate or shallowly cordate, apex acute. Cymes axillary; peduncle 10.5-13.5 cm; bracts ovate, 5-6 X ca. 3.5 mm, densely silvery sericeous outside. Sepals deciduous, ovate, ca. 7 X 5 mm, silvery sericeous abaxially, apex obtuse, inner ones slightly smaller than outer. Fruiting calyx rose-red. Corolla pale purple, funnelform-campanulate, 4-5 cm; limb shallowly lobed, midpetaline bands silvery sericeous. Stamens and pistil included; filaments villous basally; anthers oblong, ca. 4.5 mm. Disc ringlike, ca. 0.5 mm high. Ovary glabrous. Style ca. 3.2 cm, jointed at base; stigma capitate, 2-lobed. Berry red, globose, 6-8 mm in diam., enclosed by calyx. Seeds 4, brown, ovoid-trigonous, 4-5 mm. Fr. Sep-Dec.

Forests, thickets; 1000-4000 m. W Yunnan [NE India, Myanmar, Thailand]

The epithet splendens has often been attributed to Roxburgh, either in Hort. Bengal. 13. 1814 (a nomen nudum), or in Fl. Ind. 2: 75. 1824. Hornemann's publication predates by five years the first publication of a description for Lettsomia splendens, so the epithet must be based on Hornemann's Convolvulus splendens.