Convolvulus oleifolius Desr.
Subshrub, up to 60(80) cm in height; with woody old stems, young and floriferous stems herbaceous; vegetative parts greyish-sericeous. Leaves sessile, (1)2.5-6 × (0.1)0.4-0.8 cm, linear, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, from obtuse to acute, entire, with attenuated base (the basal leaves) or cuneate (cauline leaves). Flowers in dichasial inflorescences (rarely simple flowers or few flowers) with peduncles up to 3 cm long from the axils of the upper leaves. Bracts are similar to the leaves but smaller, always linear-oblong, while bracteoles are 8-10 × 1-1.5 mm, linear and pedicels 0-10 mm. External sepals (6-9 × 2.5-5 mm) ovate, from narrowly acuminate to obtuse apex, villous; internal sepals wider, with scarious margins. Corolla 2-2.5 cm long, pink, very shallowly lobulate. Petals with hairy central bands, darker, ending in a tooth. Ovary and style hairy, divided c. 3 mm above the base, with stigmas 5 mm in length. Fruit a pilose capsule, c. 5 × 5 cm, included in the persistent calyx. Seeds 1-4 (3 × 2 mm), brown, densely pubescent.
Flowering:
May to June.
Fruiting:
July to August.
Habitat:
In calcareous soils and coastal slopes.
Distribution:
Plant species typical of the eastern Mediterranean. It reaches its westernmost boundary in NE Africa, in Egypt and the Libyan coast.
Observations:
There are another woody species of the genus in North Africa, although it only just reach over 60(80) cm in height. It is C. dorycnium L., an evergreen subshrub with rigid divaricate stems, with indumentum of short appressed hairs. Basal leaves (3.5-6 × 0.5-1.2 cm) spatulate or oblong-linear and decurrent at the base; while cauline leaves (1.5-4 × 0.2-0.5 cm) are oblong-linear or linear-lanceolate and attenuated at the base. Flowers axillary, in groups of 1-7, with linear bracts and minute bracteoles. Sepals 3-5 mm, unequal, mucronate. Corolla 1.2-2 cm, pink, with hairy bands on the outer surface while the tube is glabrous. Fruit a monospermous capsule, 5-6 × 4 mm, obovate and glabrous. Seeds 3 × 2.5 mm, subglobose, puberulent and brownish. It grows in limestone hillsides near the sea, distributed throughout the eastern Mediterranean, found in North Africa in the Egyptian coast.
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species. Currently, they have not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Red List of vascular plants of Egypt (Flora Aegyptiaca Vol 1, 2000) C. oleifolius is listed as “Vulnerable”.