FNA: Ipomoea capillacea vs. Ipomoea batatas

	Ipomoea capillacea	Ipomoea batatas
	purple morning-glory	camote, sweet potato, wild sweet potato
Habit	Perennials.	Perennials, root relatively large, tuberlike.
Stems	usually ascending to erect, sometimes trailing.	± trailing, rarely twining.
Leaf	blades palmatisect, lobes 5–9, filiform to linear, (3–)5–15(–25) × 0.2–1 mm.	blades cordate, broadly ovate, or 5–7-lobed, 50–100+ × 40–100 mm overall, base cordate, surfaces glabrous or hairy.
Peduncles	glabrous.	glabrous or hairy, hairs appressed.
Flowers	sepals elliptic, oblong, or ovate, 5–6 × 2–3 mm, chartaceous or coriaceous, abaxial surface muricate or smooth; corolla lavender to red-purple, funnelform, 30–40 mm, limb 20–25 mm diam.	sepals lanceolate to oblong, 8–15 mm, chartaceous; corolla usually lavender, pink, or purplish, sometimes white, throat usually darker inside, funnelform, (30–)40–70 mm.
Seeds		glabrous.
2n		= 60, 84, 90.

	Ipomoea capillacea	Ipomoea batatas
Phenology	Flowering Jul–Sep.	Flowering year-round.
Habitat	Oak woodlands, plains, ponderosa pine zones.	Abandoned plantings, thickets.
Elevation	1500–2500 m. (4900–8200 ft.)	0–200+ m. (0–700+ ft.)
Distribution	AZ; NM; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	FL; KS; LA; MS; NC; NY; PA; SC; TX; UT; VA; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Asia, Africa] [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	The report of Ipomoea capillacea from Alabama (J. T. Kartesz and C. A. Meacham 1999) was probably based on a specimen of I. muricata. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)	Reports of Ipomoea batatas from northern parts of the flora area appear to be based on ephemerals. (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. cairica, 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. 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. violacea, I. wrightii, I. ×leucantha
Synonyms	Convolvulus capillaceus, 3(qto.): 97.	Convolvulus batatas
Name authority	(Kunth) G. Don: Gen. Hist. 4: 267. (1837)	(Linnaeus) Lamarck in J. Lamarck and J. Poiret: Tabl. Encycl. 1: 465. (1793)
Web links	WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local Web sites: KS Wildflowers, LA Plants WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Ipomoea capillacea

Ipomoea batatas

purple morning-glory

camote, sweet potato, wild sweet potato

Habit

Perennials.

Perennials, root relatively large, tuberlike.

Stems

usually ascending to erect, sometimes trailing.

± trailing, rarely twining.

Leaf

blades palmatisect, lobes 5–9, filiform to linear, (3–)5–15(–25) × 0.2–1 mm.

blades cordate, broadly ovate, or 5–7-lobed, 50–100+ × 40–100 mm overall, base cordate, surfaces glabrous or hairy.

Peduncles

glabrous.

glabrous or hairy, hairs appressed.

Flowers

sepals elliptic, oblong, or ovate, 5–6 × 2–3 mm, chartaceous or coriaceous, abaxial surface muricate or smooth;

corolla lavender to red-purple, funnelform, 30–40 mm, limb 20–25 mm diam.

sepals lanceolate to oblong, 8–15 mm, chartaceous;

corolla usually lavender, pink, or purplish, sometimes white, throat usually darker inside, funnelform, (30–)40–70 mm.

Seeds

glabrous.

= 60, 84, 90.

Ipomoea capillacea

Ipomoea batatas

Phenology

Flowering Jul–Sep.

Flowering year-round.

Habitat

Oak woodlands, plains, ponderosa pine zones.

Abandoned plantings, thickets.

Elevation

1500–2500 m. (4900–8200 ft.)

0–200+ m. (0–700+ ft.)

Distribution

AZ; NM; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

FL; KS; LA; MS; NC; NY; PA; SC; TX; UT; VA; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Asia, Africa]

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

The report of Ipomoea capillacea from Alabama (J. T. Kartesz and C. A. Meacham 1999) was probably based on a specimen of I. muricata.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Reports of Ipomoea batatas from northern parts of the flora area appear to be based on ephemerals.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source

FNA vol. 14.

Parent taxa

Convolvulaceae > Ipomoea

Sibling taxa

I. alba, I. amnicola, I. aquatica, I. asarifolia, I. barbatisepala, I. batatas, I. cairica, 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. 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. violacea, I. wrightii, I. ×leucantha

Synonyms

Convolvulus capillaceus, 3(qto.): 97.

Convolvulus batatas

Name authority

(Kunth) G. Don: Gen. Hist. 4: 267. (1837)

(Linnaeus) Lamarck in J. Lamarck and J. Poiret: Tabl. Encycl. 1: 465. (1793)

Web links

Local Web sites: KS Wildflowers, LA Plants
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database
LBJ Wildflower Center
SEINet
Plants of the World Online
Encyclopedia of Life
Wikipedia
Google Image Search

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).

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

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Ipomoea capillacea

Ipomoea batatas

Ipomoea capillacea

Ipomoea batatas