Evolvulus nummularius, also known as the dwarf morning glory, is a species of flowering plant in the morning-glory family. It is an annual or perennial plant.
Distribution The plant is distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics, extending across large parts of tropical Africa, South Africa, and Madagascar.Schmelzer, G.H. & Bunyapraphatsara, N. 2001. Evolvulus alsinoides (L.) L. – In: van Valkenburg, J.L.C.H. & Bunyaprabhatsara, N. (eds), Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 12: Medicinal and Poisonous Plants 2. Backhuys Publ., Leiden, Netherlands, 258-260 It is considered a naturalized alien plant in Taiwan and the Tiwi Islands of Australia.Iqbal IM, Shabbir A, Shabbir K, Barkworth ME, Firdaus-e-Bareen and Khan SM. (2020). Evolvulus nummularius (L.) L. (Convolvulaceae): a new alien plant record for Pakistan. BioInvasions Records. 9(4): 702-711.
Uses The plant is used as a mild sedative and has anthelmintic properties.Lakshminarayana, G. and Raju, A.J., 2017. Reproductive biology and ecology of Evolvulus alsinoides and Evolvulus nummularius (Convolvulaceae). Phytologia Balcanica, 23(3). In Indian traditional medicines it is used for treating burns, cuts, wounds, scorpion stings, and as an anthelmintic.Iqbal IM, Shabbir A, Shabbir K, Barkworth ME, Firdaus-e-Bareen and Khan SM. (2020). Evolvulus nummularius (L.) L. (Convolvulaceae): a new alien plant record for Pakistan. BioInvasions Records. 9(4): 702-711. Phytochemical investigations of the aerial parts of E. nummularius have identified several bioactive constituents such as β-sitosterol, glucoside, stigmasterol, d-mannitol, ursolic acid, and oleanolic acid. In addition, three previously unreported compounds were isolated and structurally elucidated using spectroscopic and chemical methods, comprising derivatives of stigmastane, coumaroyl, and ursane.Sahu PK and Gupta S. (2014). Medicinal plants of morning glory: Convolvulaceae Juss., of Central India (Madhya Pradesh & Chhattishgarh). Biolife. 2(2): 463-469.
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