Polymeria R.Br.

Scientific Description

Family Convolvulaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Herbs, or herbaceous climbers; laticiferous, or non-laticiferous and without coloured juice. Autotrophic. Perennial; plants with neither basal nor terminal concentrations of leaves. Trailing or climbing; stem twiners, or scrambling. Helophytic, mesophytic, and xerophytic. Leaves alternate; spiral; petiolate to sessile; non-sheathing; simple. Leaf blades entire; pinnately veined, or palmately veined; cross-venulate; cuneate at the base, or cordate (or obtuse). Leaves without stipules; without a persistent basal meristem. Leaf anatomy. Hairs present (hairs simple), or absent (rarely). Stem anatomy. Nodes unilacunar. Secondary thickening anomalous, or developing from a conventional cambial ring; via concentric cambia, or from a single cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary, or aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in cymes. The terminal inflorescence unit cymose. Inflorescences axillary. Flowers bracteate; bi- bracteolate; small to medium-sized; regular to somewhat irregular. The floral asymmetry (when noticeable) involving the perianth (K only). Flowers 5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk present; annular. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 10; 2 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5; 1 -whorled; polysepalous; imbricate; regular to unequal but not bilabiate (subequal); persistent (enclosing fruit); with the median member posterior. Corolla 5; 1 -whorled; gamopetalous; campanulate, or funnel-shaped; regular; hairy abaxially (on mid-petaline bands); white, or pink. Androecium 5. Androecial members adnate (to the corolla); all equal; free of one another; 1 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5; remaining included; oppositisepalous. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious to eu-syncarpous; superior. Ovary plurilocular; 2 locular. Gynoecium median. Styles 1; simple (filiform); apical; not becoming exserted. Stigmas 1; (2–)4–9(–16) - lobed; dry type; papillate; Group II type. Placentation basal. Ovules 1 per locule; ascending; apotropous; non-arillate; anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; not hairy; dehiscent; a capsule. Capsules loculicidal. Fruit 2 seeded. Seeds irregular; endospermic. Endosperm oily. Seeds conspicuously hairy, or not conspicuously hairy. Cotyledons 2. Embryo chlorophyllous; straight, or curved. Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar.

Physiology, biochemistry. Aluminium accumulation not found. Photosynthetic pathway: C₃.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Native of Australia. Not endemic to Australia. Australian states and territories: Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland. Northern Botanical Province and Eremaean Botanical Province.

Additional characters Stigmas the stigmatic area linear.