FNA: Ipomoea imperati vs. Ipomoea purpurea

	Ipomoea imperati	Ipomoea purpurea
	beach morning-glory	common morning-glory, tall morning-glory
Habit	Perennials.	Annuals.
Stems	repent, rooting at nodes and underground.	twining.
Leaf	blades lanceolate, linear, oblong, ovate, or 3–5-lobed, 15–80 × 12–60 mm, base cordate to truncate, surfaces glabrous.	blades cordate, ovate, or 3(–5)-lobed, not palmatisect, 10–110(–180) × 10–120(–160) mm, base cordate, surfaces ± hairy, hairs ± antrorse.
Peduncles	glabrous.	hairy, hairs retrorse.
Flowers	sepals lance-oblong, 10–15 mm, outers shorter than inners, ± coriaceous, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface glabrous; corolla white, throat usually yellow, sometimes purplish inside, funnelform, 25–50 mm.	sepals elliptic, lance-oblong, or oblong, 8–15 × (1.5–)2.5–4.5 mm, herbaceous, base ± hairy, hairs dark at base, narrowed distal portion shorter to slightly longer than dilated base, apex acute to abruptly acuminate; corolla blue (purple, red, or white in cultivars), tube white inside, funnelform, (25–)40–60 mm, limb 24–48(–70) mm diam. 2n = 30.
2n	= 30.

	Ipomoea imperati	Ipomoea purpurea
Phenology	Flowering year-round.	Flowering Jul–Nov.
Habitat	Beaches, dunes.	Abandoned plantings, canyons, disturbed sites, fields, stream banks.
Elevation	0–10 m. (0–0 ft.)	100–2300 m. (300–7500 ft.)
Distribution	AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; HI; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia] [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WV; ON; QC; Mexico [Introduced in North America; introduced also in West Indies, Central America, South America, Eurasia, Africa, Australia] [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Ipomoea imperati was collected once in Pennsylvania (on ballast in 1865). The names I. littoralis (Linnaeus) Boissier 1875, not Blume 1826, and I. stolonifera (Cirillo) J. F. Gmelin are illegitimate; both have been misapplied to plants of I. imperati. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)	In the flora area, Ipomoea purpurea may be native in southeastern United States and introduced elsewhere. Populations in California, Oregon, and Washington may not be truly naturalized. (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. capillacea, I. cardiophylla, I. carnea, I. coccinea, I. cordatotriloba, I. costellata, I. cristulata, I. dumetorum, I. hederacea, I. hederifolia, 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. 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 imperati	Convolvulus purpureus, I. purpurea var. diversifolia, Pharbitis purpurea
Name authority	(Vahl) Grisebach: Cat. Pl. Cub., 203. (1866)	(Linnaeus) Roth: Bot. Abh. Beobacht., 27. (1787)
Web links	Local Web sites: LA Plants WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Go Botany, IL Wildflowers, KS Wildflowers, LA Plants, MD Biodiversity, MI Flora, MN Wildflowers, MO Plants, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Ipomoea purpurea

beach morning-glory

common morning-glory, tall morning-glory

Habit

Perennials.

Annuals.

Stems

repent, rooting at nodes and underground.

twining.

Leaf

blades lanceolate, linear, oblong, ovate, or 3–5-lobed, 15–80 × 12–60 mm, base cordate to truncate, surfaces glabrous.

blades cordate, ovate, or 3(–5)-lobed, not palmatisect, 10–110(–180) × 10–120(–160) mm, base cordate, surfaces ± hairy, hairs ± antrorse.

Peduncles

glabrous.

hairy, hairs retrorse.

Flowers

sepals lance-oblong, 10–15 mm, outers shorter than inners, ± coriaceous, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface glabrous;

corolla white, throat usually yellow, sometimes purplish inside, funnelform, 25–50 mm.

sepals elliptic, lance-oblong, or oblong, 8–15 × (1.5–)2.5–4.5 mm, herbaceous, base ± hairy, hairs dark at base, narrowed distal portion shorter to slightly longer than dilated base, apex acute to abruptly acuminate;

corolla blue (purple, red, or white in cultivars), tube white inside, funnelform, (25–)40–60 mm, limb 24–48(–70) mm diam. 2n = 30.

= 30.

Ipomoea imperati

Ipomoea purpurea

Phenology

Flowering year-round.

Flowering Jul–Nov.

Habitat

Beaches, dunes.

Abandoned plantings, canyons, disturbed sites, fields, stream banks.

Elevation

0–10 m. (0–0 ft.)

100–2300 m. (300–7500 ft.)

Distribution

AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; HI; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia]

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WV; ON; QC; Mexico [Introduced in North America; introduced also in West Indies, Central America, South America, Eurasia, Africa, Australia]

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Ipomoea imperati was collected once in Pennsylvania (on ballast in 1865). The names I. littoralis (Linnaeus) Boissier 1875, not Blume 1826, and I. stolonifera (Cirillo) J. F. Gmelin are illegitimate; both have been misapplied to plants of I. imperati.

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

In the flora area, Ipomoea purpurea may be native in southeastern United States and introduced elsewhere. Populations in California, Oregon, and Washington may not be truly naturalized.

(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. capillacea, I. cardiophylla, I. carnea, I. coccinea, I. cordatotriloba, I. costellata, I. cristulata, I. dumetorum, I. hederacea, I. hederifolia, 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. 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 imperati

Convolvulus purpureus, I. purpurea var. diversifolia, Pharbitis purpurea

Name authority

(Vahl) Grisebach: Cat. Pl. Cub., 203. (1866)

(Linnaeus) Roth: Bot. Abh. Beobacht., 27. (1787)

Web links

Local floras: BC, CA
Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Go Botany, IL Wildflowers, KS Wildflowers, LA Plants, MD Biodiversity, MI Flora, MN Wildflowers, MO Plants, PNW Herbaria
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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Flora of North America species comparison

Ipomoea imperati

Ipomoea purpurea

Ipomoea imperati

Ipomoea purpurea