Flora of North America species comparison

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Ipomoea indica

Ipomoea tenuiloba

beach morning glory, blue morningglory, oceanblue morning-glory

cardinal climber, spiderleaf
Habit Perennials. Perennials, root tuberlike.
Stems

usually twining, sometimes trailing.

usually trailing, sometimes twining near tips.
Leaf

blades cordate, rounded-ovate, or 3–5(–7)-lobed, 30–140 × 30–140 mm, base cordate to sagittate, surfaces glabrous or ± pilose.

blades orbiculate, palmatisect, lobes 5–9, lanceolate to linear, 10–70 × 0.5–6.5 mm, surfaces glabrous.
Peduncles

glabrate or sparsely hairy, hairs antrorse to ± appressed.

glabrous.
Flowers

sepals lance-ovate, 14–21 mm, herbaceous, apex ± acuminate, surfaces glabrous or abaxial sparsely hairy, hairs appressed;

corolla usually blue to purple, rarely white, throat and tube white, funnelform, 50–70 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 indica

Ipomoea tenuiloba
Phenology Flowering year-round.
Habitat Roadsides, thickets.
Elevation 0–1600 m. [0–5200 ft.]
Distribution
map from FNA
AL; CA; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; PA; SC; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in Asia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
map from USDA
sw United States; sc United States; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

In the flora area, Ipomoea indica rarely produces seeds and rarely survives winters. It is probably native in southern Florida.

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

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.)
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. imperati, 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
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
Synonyms Convolvulus indicus, I. mutabilis, Pharbitis cathartica
Name authority (Burman) Merrill: Interpr. Herb. Amboin., 445. (1917) Torrey in W. H. Emory: Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 148. (1859)
Source FNA vol. 14. Treatment author: Daniel F. Austin†. FNA vol. 14. Treatment author: Daniel F. Austin†.
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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