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12. Ipomoea obscura (Linn.) Ker-Gawl. in Bot. Reg. PI. 239. 1817. (Fig. 151).
CONVOLVULACEAE
Ipomoea insuavis Blume—Ipomoea ocularis Bartl.—Ipomoea ochroleuca Spanogue—Convolvulus
ohseurus L.
Sinh. Mahamadu, Telkola; Tarn. Chirudali, Chirutali, Kuruguttali, Sirudali, Siruttali;
Sans. Vachagandha.
A twining plant with very long, slender, glabrous or slightly hairy, purplish green stems;
leaves simple, alternate, without stipules, 5—7.5 cm long, 4—6.5 cm broad, deeply cordateovate,
acuminate, subacute, glabrous of finely ciliate, thin, petioles 3.7—5 cm long, glabrous
or pubescent; flowers regular, yellowish white with a small purple eye, bisexual, rather small,
on stout glabrous or pubescent pedicels 0.6—2 cm long, solitary or 2 together, peduncles
3—4.3 cm long, bracts very small; sepals 5, imbricate, nearly equal, 5—5.5 mm long,
3.5—4 mm broad, ovate, shortly cuspidate; petals 5, fused into a wide tubular corolla, corollatube
1 cm long, cylindrical, limb 2.5 cm diameter; stamens 5, unequal on corolla-tube; ovary
superior, 2-locular with two ovules in each chamber, style simple, about 1 cm long, stigmas 2
globose; fruit capsule dehiscent, 1 cm long, ovate-ovoid, tipped with the style on thickened,
deflexed pedicel, seeds ovoid, 4 mm long, dark brown and densely velvety.
Flowers from July to August.
Illustrations. Ker-Gawl., Bot. Reg. pi. 239. 1817; Kirtikar and Basu, Indian Med.
Plants, pi. 659.4 1933; Herb. Peradeniya., drawing.
Distribution. Occurs throughout India, Ceylon, Malaya, Mascarene Islands and East
Africa. It is common in the low-country in Ceylon, both in the dry and moist regions.
Anuradhapura, Dambulla, Hantane, Peradeniya, Colombo, etc.
India. Plan Ganget. Sup., T. Thomson. Maisor and Carnatic: G. Thomson. Ceylon.
Dambulla, Thwaites CP. 1935, March 1868; Peradeniya, Alston 1305, Dec. 1925.
Uses. The leaves are used as an application on aphthous affections. The latex is used
for treatment of gangrenous sores and for the preparation of medicinal oils used for
the same purpose. The bruised fresh leaves are often applied to remove pieces of broken
needles and to remove foreign bodies from the eye. Internally, they act as a cardiac,
stomachic, expectorant, and diuretic and are useful for chronic dyspepsia, bronchitis and
renal and hepatic dropsy.
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