Notes on Convolvulus, Astripomoea, Ipomoea and Merremia (Convolvulaceae) from the Horn of Africa

Abstract

The six new species Convolvulus scopulatus, a shrub from gypseous semidesert coastal plains in northern Somalia, Astripomoea procera, a woody climber in Acacia‐Commiphora bushland on sand in south‐central Somalia, Ipomoea hiranensis, a prostrate or climbing shrublet in Acacia‐Commiphora bushland in rocky places on sandstone in south‐central Somalia, Ipomoea galhareriana, a woody climber in bushland on sand in central Somalia, Ipomoea pogonantha, a woody climber in bushland usually on red soil over limestone in eastern and southern Ethiopia, southern Somalia and northern Kenya, and Ipomoea corrugata, a herb with trailing stems in bushland on sandy soil in south‐central Somalia, are described, and illustrations are provided for most of them. The new combinations Ipomoea ovatolanceolata (= I. adenoides var. ovatolanceolata) and Merremia obtusa (= M. ampelophylla subsp. obtusa) are made, and a new synonymy is provided for M. ampelophylla. Merremia ellenbeckii is neotypified and M. lobata is placed in synonymy.