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cairo morning glory, mile-a-minute vine

little bell morning glory, littlebell

Habit Perennials. Annuals.
Stems

usually twining, sometimes trailing.

usually twining, sometimes trailing.

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, broadly ovate, or 3–7-lobed, 20–80 × 20–70 mm overall, base cordate, basal lobes angular, lobed, or rounded, surfaces glabrous or sparsely pilose.

Peduncles

glabrous;

pedicels straight, 10–25 mm.

glabrous, distally verruculose.

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 narrowly elliptic-oblong, lanceolate, or oblong, 6–7 mm, chartaceous or coriaceous, margins ciliate, apex acute or obtuse, mucronulate-caudate, surface glabrous or abaxial sparsely hairy;

corolla lavender, funnelform, 10–20 mm.

2n

= 30.

= 30, 60.

Ipomoea cairica

Ipomoea triloba

Phenology Flowering Mar–Oct. Flowering year-round.
Habitat Abandoned plantings, dis­turbed sites. Disturbed sites.
Elevation -20–200 m. (-100–700 ft.) -40–100 m. (-100–300 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
CA; FL; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Asia]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ipomoea triloba seeds are sometimes a contaminant in rice and other seeds.

Ipomoea trifida (Kunth) G. Don (Convolvulus trifidus Kunth) was incorrectly ascribed to Florida by J. K. Small (1933) on the basis of an unusual and incorrectly identified specimen of I. triloba.

(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. 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. 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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