The South African Convolvulaceae.

The first important contribution to our knowledge of the South African Convol vulaceae was made by Thunberg who described or mentioned about 12 species. Choisy in DC., Prodr. 9 (1845) added many species collected by Burchell, Ecklon, Zeyher and Drêge. H. Hallier (fil.) revised the family, beginning with his paper on the “ natural system” of the Convolvulaceae in Engl. Bot. Jb. 16: 453-591 (1893), and treated the African Convolvulaceae in a series of papers, the most important of which are in Engl. Bot. Jb. 18: 81-160 (1893), 28: 28-54 (1899) and in Bull. Herb. Boiss. 6: 529548 (1898), 7: 41-55 (1899). Hallier’s system has been generally followed with only minor changes. His works, together with publications by Engler in Engl. Bot. Jb. 10:53-56 (1888), by Schinz in Verh. bot. Ver. Brandenb. 30: 270-276 (1888), by Baker in Kew Bull. 1894: 67-74 (1894) and by Rendle in Jl. Bot. 39: 12-22, 55-64 (1901), 40: 189-191 (1902), were the main sources of reference for the treatments of the Convolvulaceae in the Flora Capensis 4, 2 (1904) by Baker and Wright and in the Flora of Tropical Africa 4, 2 (1905-1906) by Baker and Rendle. Since these publications only few papers treating species from Southern Africa have been added. Pilger continued Hallier’s papers on Convolvulaceae Africanae in Engl. Bot. Jb. 41: 293297 (1908), 45: 218-222 (1910) and 48: 348-352 (1912); N. E. Brown published on the collections made by the Lugards in Ngamiland (Kew Bull. 1909, Convolvulaceae p. 122-125). These publications are important for the area under discussion because they deal with species some of which were described or have since been recorded from the Union. A monograph of the genus Cuscuta by Yuncker appeared in 1936.