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

cairo morning glory, mile-a-minute vine

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

Habit Perennials. Annuals.
Stems

usually twining, sometimes trailing.

twining.

Leaf

blades orbiculate to ovate, 30–100 × 30–100 mm overall, palmatisect, lobes 5 (proximal 2 sometimes 2-lobed), lance-elliptic, lanceolate, or lance-ovate, (5–)10–25(–70) × (3–)8–15(–30) mm, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces glabrous.

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;

pedicels straight, 10–25 mm.

glabrous.

Flowers

sepals oblong to ovate, 4–6.5(–9) mm, outers slightly shorter than inners, chartaceous, margins scarious, apex obtuse to acute;

corolla lavender-blue or white, throat purplish-red, funnelform, 45–60 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.

2n

= 30.

= 28.

Ipomoea cairica

Ipomoea coccinea

Phenology Flowering Mar–Oct. Flowering Jul–Dec.
Habitat Abandoned plantings, dis­turbed sites. Abandoned plantings, disturbed sites.
Elevation -20–200 m. (-100–700 ft.) 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; CA; FL; LA; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico (Oaxaca), West Indies, South America]
[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. alba, I. amnicola, I. aquatica, I. asarifolia, I. barbatisepala, I. batatas, 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 Convolvulus cairicus
Name authority (Linnaeus) Sweet: Hort. Brit., 287. (1826) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 160. (1753)
Web links