Common Name: Dwarf morning glory. Tamil Name: Vishu kranthi
Dwarf morning glory is a much hairy prostrate herb seen in forest-edges and fallow lands all over Tamilnadu. It is a native of South America and has been naturalized in India. The simple leaves are arranged in an alternative and distichous manner. The leaves are near sessile and are elliptic in shape and measure around 1 cm. The flowers are axillary and number around one or two, they measure around 6 mm across. The petals are blue in color. The entire plant is clothed in longish hairs. The fruit is a rounded two valve capsule containing dark brown seeds. The plant morphology is highly variable. I have seen a white flowering variety in Coimbatore district: less common. Plant nurseries in Tamilnadu sell E. glomeratus as an ornamental potted plant. This plant is much less hairy than E. alsinoides. E alsinoides has several applications in traditional systems of Indian medicine.
