Flora of North America species comparison

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Ipomoea cairica

Ipomoea cordatotriloba

cairo morning glory, mile-a-minute vine

cotton morningglory, tie-vine
Habit Perennials. Perennials.
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 cordate-ovate, lance-ovate, ovate, or 3–5(–7)-lobed, 10–90 × 10–90 mm, base cordate, lobes usually rounded, sometimes pointed, surfaces usually hirsute, pilose, or tomentose, rarely glabrous.
Peduncles

glabrous;

pedicels straight, 10–25 mm.

glabrous or hairy, hairs appressed.
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.

sepals lanceolate to ovate, 8–14 mm, chartaceous or coriaceous, outers lance-ovate to lanceolate, narrowed distal portion curved, glabrous or hairy, inners ovate, margins ciliate or not, abaxial surface glabrous or hairy;

corolla lavender, tube darker, funnelform, 20–38 mm.
2n

= 30.

Ipomoea cairica

Ipomoea cordatotriloba
Phenology Flowering Mar–Oct.
Habitat Abandoned plantings, dis­turbed sites.
Elevation -20–200 m. (-100–700 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 USDA
United States; Mexico; South America
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (2 in the flora).

Variety australis (O’Donnell) D. F. Austin is known from Argentina.

Varieties cordatotriloba and torreyana appear to differ by minor, trivial traits; nevertheless, they have distinctive aspects and, historically, distinct ranges and habitats. Both have been dispersed by humans and may appear sporadically in places outside their historical ranges.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blade surfaces usually hirsute, pilose, or tomentose, rarely glabrous; sepals hispid-pilose and/or ciliate.
var. cordatotriloba
1. Leaf blade surfaces glabrous; sepals glabrous.
var. torreyana
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. coccinea, 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
Subordinate taxa
I. cordatotriloba var. cordatotriloba, I. cordatotriloba var. torreyana
Synonyms Convolvulus cairicus
Name authority (Linnaeus) Sweet: Hort. Brit., 287. (1826) Dennstedt: Nomencl. Bot. 1: 246. (1810)
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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