FNA: Ipomoea muricata vs. Ipomoea quamoclit

	Ipomoea muricata	Ipomoea quamoclit
	lilac-bell, purple moonflower	cypress vine, cypress-vine morning-glory
Habit	Annuals.	Annuals.
Stems	trailing or twining, ± warty or smooth.	twining.
Leaf	blades usually orbiculate to ovate, sometimes cordate or 3–5-lobed, 70–180 × 70–160 mm, base cordate, surfaces glabrous.	blades ± elliptic to oblong, 10–90 × 5–45 mm overall, pinnatisect, base ± truncate, lobes 19–41+, filiform to linear, surfaces glabrous.
Peduncles	glabrous.	glabrous.
Flowers	nocturnal; sepals oblong to ovate, 6–8 mm, chartaceous to coriaceous, apex acute, outers each with ± corniform appendage 4–6 mm; corolla white, turning lavender in morning, salverform, limb sometimes ± campanulate, 30–75 mm.	diurnal; sepals elliptic to oblong, 4–8 mm, chartaceous to coriaceous, apex mucronate, surfaces glabrous; corolla usually red, sometimes white (in cultivars), salverform, 20–30 mm.
Fruits	18–20 mm.
2n	= 30.	= 30.

	Ipomoea muricata	Ipomoea quamoclit
Phenology	Flowering Nov.	Flowering Jun–Oct.
Habitat	Disturbed sites.	Abandoned plantings, forest edges, thickets.
Elevation	0–80 m. (0–300 ft.)	0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.)
Distribution	AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; TX; Mexico [Introduced in North America; introduced also in South America] [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	AL; AR; DC; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NY; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; ON; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Eurasia; Africa [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Ipomoea muricata has been spread as a contaminant in soybean seeds (C. R. Gunn 1970). The name Ipomoea turbinata Lagasca is illegitimate and has been misapplied to plants of I. muricata (G. W. Staples et al. 2006). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)	Reports for Ipomoea quamoclit from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia may be from horticultural plantings. A report from California is from a casual garden weed; it is not naturalized there. (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. lindheimeri, I. longifolia, I. macrorhiza, I. microdactyla, 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. 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 muricatus
Name authority	(Linnaeus) Jacquin: Pl. Hort. Schoenbr. 3: 40. (1798)	Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 159. (1753)
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 Web sites: IL Wildflowers, KS Wildflowers, LA Plants, MD Biodiversity, MO Plants WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Ipomoea muricata

Ipomoea quamoclit

lilac-bell, purple moonflower

cypress vine, cypress-vine morning-glory

Habit

Annuals.

Stems

trailing or twining, ± warty or smooth.

twining.

Leaf

blades usually orbiculate to ovate, sometimes cordate or 3–5-lobed, 70–180 × 70–160 mm, base cordate, surfaces glabrous.

blades ± elliptic to oblong, 10–90 × 5–45 mm overall, pinnatisect, base ± truncate, lobes 19–41+, filiform to linear, surfaces glabrous.

Peduncles

glabrous.

Flowers

nocturnal;

sepals oblong to ovate, 6–8 mm, chartaceous to coriaceous, apex acute, outers each with ± corniform appendage 4–6 mm;

corolla white, turning lavender in morning, salverform, limb sometimes ± campanulate, 30–75 mm.

diurnal;

sepals elliptic to oblong, 4–8 mm, chartaceous to coriaceous, apex mucronate, surfaces glabrous;

corolla usually red, sometimes white (in cultivars), salverform, 20–30 mm.

Fruits

18–20 mm.

= 30.

Ipomoea muricata

Ipomoea quamoclit

Phenology

Flowering Nov.

Flowering Jun–Oct.

Habitat

Disturbed sites.

Abandoned plantings, forest edges, thickets.

Elevation

0–80 m. (0–300 ft.)

0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.)

Distribution

AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; TX; Mexico [Introduced in North America; introduced also in South America]

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

AL; AR; DC; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NY; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; ON; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Eurasia; Africa

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Ipomoea muricata has been spread as a contaminant in soybean seeds (C. R. Gunn 1970).

The name Ipomoea turbinata Lagasca is illegitimate and has been misapplied to plants of I. muricata (G. W. Staples et al. 2006).

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

Reports for Ipomoea quamoclit from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia may be from horticultural plantings. A report from California is from a casual garden weed; it is not naturalized there.

(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. lindheimeri, I. longifolia, I. macrorhiza, I. microdactyla, 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. 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 muricatus

Name authority

(Linnaeus) Jacquin: Pl. Hort. Schoenbr. 3: 40. (1798)

Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 159. (1753)

Web links

Local Web sites: IL Wildflowers, KS Wildflowers, LA Plants, MD Biodiversity, MO 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 muricata

Ipomoea quamoclit

Ipomoea muricata

Ipomoea quamoclit