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cairo morning glory, mile-a-minute vine

pitted morningglory, small white morning glory, white morning-glory, whitestar

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 cordate-ovate, deltate-ovate, ovate, or 3(–5)-lobed, 30–80 × 20–70 mm, base ± cordate, basal lobes rounded or pointed, surfaces glabrous or sparsely hairy.

Peduncles

glabrous;

pedicels straight, 10–25 mm.

glabrous, sometimes muricate.

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 elliptic-oblong, lanceolate, or lance-ovate, (8–)11–14 mm, chartaceous or coriaceous, margins ciliate, apex acuminate, surfaces glabrous;

corolla usually white, limb sometimes pink tinged, funnelform, 15–20(–25) mm.

Fruits

10–13 mm diam. 2n = 30.

2n

= 30.

Ipomoea cairica

Ipomoea lacunosa

Phenology Flowering Mar–Oct. Flowering Apr–Oct.
Habitat Abandoned plantings, dis­turbed sites. Disturbed sites, ditches, fields.
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; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Plants of Ipomoea lacunosa are sometimes confused with plants of I. × leucantha, which are derived from hybridization between I. lacunosa and I. cordatotriloba (D. F. Austin and W. E. Abel 1981). Seeds of Ipomoea lacunosa are 5–6 mm and seeds of I. × leucantha are 3.2–4 mm.

Reports of Ipomoea lacunosa for Ontario, California, and New York are apparently based on waifs.

(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. coccinea, I. cordatotriloba, I. costellata, I. cristulata, I. dumetorum, I. hederacea, I. hederifolia, I. imperati, I. indica, 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: 161. (1753)
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