The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

moon flower, tropical white morning-glory

bush morning-glory

Habit Perennials. Perennials, taproot relatively large.
Stems

twining, usually prickly, sometimes rooting at nodes.

usually erect, sometimes ± trailing.

Leaf

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

blades lance-linear to linear, 30–80(–150) × 2–8(–10) mm, base ± cuneate, surfaces glabrous.

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.

sepals elliptic, orbiculate, or ovate, 5–10 mm, chartaceous or coriaceous, apex obtuse;

corolla lavender-pink to purple-red, throat darker, funnelform, 50–90 mm.

Fruits

20–30 mm.

2n

= 30.

= 30.

Ipomoea alba

Ipomoea leptophylla

Phenology Flowering Sep–May. Flowering May–Sep.
Habitat Forest margins, swamps, moist sites. Plains, prairies, sandy sites.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) 0–2200 m. (0–7200 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
CO; KS; MT; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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. coccinea, I. cordatotriloba, I. costellata, I. cristulata, I. dumetorum, I. hederacea, I. hederifolia, I. imperati, I. indica, I. lacunosa, 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) Torrey in J. C. Frémont: Rep. Exped. Rocky Mts., 94. (1843)
Web links