Flora of North America species comparison

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Ipomoea cairica

Ipomoea tenuiloba

cairo morning glory, mile-a-minute vine

spiderleaf
Habit Perennials. Perennials, root tuberlike.
Stems

usually twining, sometimes trailing.

usually trailing, sometimes twining near tips.
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 orbiculate, palmatisect, lobes 5–9, lanceolate to linear, 10–70 × 0.5–6.5 mm, surfaces glabrous.
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.

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.
2n

= 30.

Ipomoea cairica

Ipomoea tenuiloba
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
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. 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. 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 Convolvulus cairicus
Name authority (Linnaeus) Sweet: Hort. Brit., 287. (1826) 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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