FNA: Ipomoea lindheimeri vs. Ipomoea batatas

	Ipomoea lindheimeri	Ipomoea batatas
	blue morningglory, Lindheimer's morning-glory	camote, sweet potato, wild sweet potato
Habit	Perennials.	Perennials, root relatively large, tuberlike.
Stems	twining.	± trailing, rarely twining.
Leaf	blades broadly ovate to reniform, 50–60 × 50–80 mm overall, usually 3–5(–7)-lobed, lobes ± lanceolate, base cordate, surfaces ± hirsute or sericeous.	blades cordate, broadly ovate, or 5–7-lobed, 50–100+ × 40–100 mm overall, base cordate, surfaces glabrous or hairy.
Peduncles	hairy, hairs retrorse, shaggy.	glabrous or hairy, hairs appressed.
Flowers	sepals lanceolate to lance-ovate, 18–30 × 3–5(–9) mm, herbaceous, base ± dilated, abaxial surface ± hispid; corolla blue to violet, funnelform, 55–90 mm, limb 60–70 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 lindheimeri	Ipomoea batatas
Phenology	Flowering Apr–Nov.	Flowering year-round.
Habitat	Oak woodlands, rocky sites, stream bottoms.	Abandoned plantings, thickets.
Elevation	200–2300 m. (700–7500 ft.)	0–200+ m. (0–700+ ft.)
Distribution	NM; TX; Mexico [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		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. 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. 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 batatas
Name authority	A. Gray in A. Gray et al.: Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 2(1): 210. (1878)	(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 lindheimeri

Ipomoea batatas

blue morningglory, Lindheimer's morning-glory

camote, sweet potato, wild sweet potato

Habit

Perennials.

Perennials, root relatively large, tuberlike.

Stems

twining.

± trailing, rarely twining.

Leaf

blades broadly ovate to reniform, 50–60 × 50–80 mm overall, usually 3–5(–7)-lobed, lobes ± lanceolate, base cordate, surfaces ± hirsute or sericeous.

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

Peduncles

hairy, hairs retrorse, shaggy.

glabrous or hairy, hairs appressed.

Flowers

sepals lanceolate to lance-ovate, 18–30 × 3–5(–9) mm, herbaceous, base ± dilated, abaxial surface ± hispid;

corolla blue to violet, funnelform, 55–90 mm, limb 60–70 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 lindheimeri

Ipomoea batatas

Phenology

Flowering Apr–Nov.

Flowering year-round.

Habitat

Oak woodlands, rocky sites, stream bottoms.

Abandoned plantings, thickets.

Elevation

200–2300 m. (700–7500 ft.)

0–200+ m. (0–700+ ft.)

Distribution

NM; TX; Mexico

[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

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. 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. 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 batatas

Name authority

A. Gray in A. Gray et al.: Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 2(1): 210. (1878)

(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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Flora of North America species comparison

Ipomoea lindheimeri

Ipomoea batatas

Ipomoea lindheimeri

Ipomoea batatas