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moon flower, tropical white morning-glory

Mexican morningglory, red morning-glory, redstar, scarlet morningglory, starglory, woolly tidestromia

Habit Perennials. Annuals.
Stems

twining, usually prickly, sometimes rooting at nodes.

twining.

Leaf

blades broadly ovate to triangular or 3–5-lobed, 50–150 × 50–150 mm, base cordate, surfaces usually glabrous, rarely hairy.

blades usually cordate, sometimes ovate, sagittate, or triangular, 20–140 mm, base ± cordate, lobes rounded or 1–2-pointed, surfaces glabrous or proximally pilose.

Peduncles

glabrous.

glabrous.

Flowers

nocturnal;

sepals ovate, 7–15 mm, ± coriaceous, apex acute, outers each with midrib extending as ± corniform appendage;

corolla white, throat green-banded inside, salverform, 70–150 mm.

diurnal;

sepals chartaceous, outers oblong to elliptic, 3–3.5 mm, apex obtuse to truncate, each with ± terminal corniform appendage 2.5–6 mm, inners oblong, 4.5–5.7 mm, chartaceous, apex obtuse to truncate, each with ± terminal, corniform appendage 2–5.5 mm;

corolla usually red or red and yellow, sometimes white (in cultivars), salverform, 20–25 mm.

Fruits

20–30 mm.

2n

= 30.

= 28.

Ipomoea alba

Ipomoea coccinea

Phenology Flowering Sep–May. Flowering Jul–Dec.
Habitat Forest margins, swamps, moist sites. Abandoned plantings, disturbed sites.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; LA; SC; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Asia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ipomoea coccinea differs from I. hederifolia by reflexed pedicels (erect in I. hederifolia) and larger inner sepals (4.5–5.7 mm) than I. hederifolia (to 3–4 mm).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 14. FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Convolvulaceae > Ipomoea Convolvulaceae > Ipomoea
Sibling taxa
I. amnicola, I. aquatica, I. asarifolia, I. barbatisepala, I. batatas, I. cairica, I. capillacea, I. cardiophylla, I. carnea, I. coccinea, I. cordatotriloba, I. costellata, I. cristulata, I. dumetorum, I. hederacea, I. hederifolia, I. imperati, I. indica, I. lacunosa, I. leptophylla, I. lindheimeri, I. longifolia, I. macrorhiza, I. microdactyla, I. muricata, I. nil, I. pandurata, I. pes-caprae, I. plummerae, I. pubescens, I. purpurea, I. quamoclit, I. rupicola, I. sagittata, I. setosa, I. shumardiana, I. sloteri, I. tenuiloba, I. tenuissima, I. ternifolia, I. thurberi, I. tricolor, I. triloba, I. violacea, I. wrightii, I. ×leucantha
I. alba, I. amnicola, I. aquatica, I. asarifolia, I. barbatisepala, I. batatas, I. cairica, I. capillacea, I. cardiophylla, I. carnea, I. cordatotriloba, I. costellata, I. cristulata, I. dumetorum, I. hederacea, I. hederifolia, I. imperati, I. indica, I. lacunosa, I. leptophylla, I. lindheimeri, I. longifolia, I. macrorhiza, I. microdactyla, I. muricata, I. nil, I. pandurata, I. pes-caprae, I. plummerae, I. pubescens, I. purpurea, I. quamoclit, I. rupicola, I. sagittata, I. setosa, I. shumardiana, I. sloteri, I. tenuiloba, I. tenuissima, I. ternifolia, I. thurberi, I. tricolor, I. triloba, I. violacea, I. wrightii, I. ×leucantha
Synonyms Calonyction aculeatum, Convolvulus aculeatus
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 161. (1753) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 160. (1753)
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