Flora of North America species comparison

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Ipomoea cairica

Ipomoea violacea

cairo morning glory, mile-a-minute vine

beach moonflower
Habit Perennials. Perennials or lianas.
Stems

usually twining, sometimes trailing.

twining, not setose.
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, orbiculate, or ovate, sometimes 3-lobed, 50–160 × 40–150 mm overall, base cordate, surfaces glabrous.
Peduncles

glabrous;

pedicels straight, 10–25 mm.

hairy, hairs retrorse to spreading.
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 orbiculate or ovate, 15–25 mm, herbaceous, apex emarginate, obtuse, or truncate, abaxial surfaces glabrous or proximally sparsely hirsute;

corolla white, limb with yellowish lines, salverform, 50–120 mm.
2n

= 30.

= 30.

Ipomoea cairica

Ipomoea violacea
Phenology Flowering Mar–Oct. Flowering year-round.
Habitat Abandoned plantings, dis­turbed sites. Dunes, littoral, mangrove sites.
Elevation -20–200 m. (-100–700 ft.) 0–50 m. (0–200 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
FL; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in Asia, Australia]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The name Ipomoea violacea has been misapplied to plants of I. tricolor.

(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. triloba, I. wrightii, I. ×leucantha
Synonyms Convolvulus cairicus Calonyction tuba, I. tuba
Name authority (Linnaeus) Sweet: Hort. Brit., 287. (1826) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 161. (1753)
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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