Flora of North America species comparison

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Ipomoea alba

Ipomoea tenuiloba

moon flower, tropical white morning-glory

spiderleaf
Habit Perennials. Perennials, root tuberlike.
Stems

twining, usually prickly, sometimes rooting at nodes.

usually trailing, sometimes twining near tips.
Leaf

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

blades orbiculate, palmatisect, lobes 5–9, lanceolate to linear, 10–70 × 0.5–6.5 mm, 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.

nocturnal;

sepals chartaceous or coriaceous, outers oblong-lanceolate, 5–12 × 2–3 mm, muricate along midrib or ± smooth, margins scarious, apex mucronate, inners obovate-acuminate, 8–9 × 3–4 mm, smooth, margins scarious;

corolla white, limb sometimes purple or pale rose-red, funnelform or salverform, 35–100 mm, limb 30–36 mm diam.
Fruits

20–30 mm.

2n

= 30.

Ipomoea alba

Ipomoea tenuiloba
Phenology Flowering Sep–May.
Habitat Forest margins, swamps, moist sites.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 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 USDA
sw United States; sc United States; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

The two varieties of Ipomoea tenuiloba are comparatively easy to distinguish; there are intergrades (G. Yatskievych and C. T. Mason 1984), some approaching I. plummerae.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blade lobes 5–7, each to 1.2 mm wide; corollas usually white, limb sometimes pink to lavender, salverform, 65–100 mm; filaments: free portions 8–11 mm.
var. tenuiloba
1. Leaf blade lobes 7–9, each to 6.5 mm wide; corollas: tube white, limb purple to red, fun­nelform, 35–65 mm; filaments: free portions 14–19 mm.
var. lemmonii
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. 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. tenuissima, I. ternifolia, I. thurberi, I. tricolor, I. triloba, I. violacea, I. wrightii, I. ×leucantha
Subordinate taxa
I. tenuiloba var. lemmonii, I. tenuiloba var. tenuiloba
Synonyms Calonyction aculeatum, Convolvulus aculeatus
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 161. (1753) Torrey in W. H. Emory: Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 148. (1859)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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