Ipomoea nil (L.) Roth, Convolvulaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Convolvulus nil L.; Pharbitis limbata Lindl.; Pharbitis nil (L.) Choisy

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: qian niu

English: blue morning glory

French: liseron bleu

Habit:  vine

Description:  "Annual or sometimes short-lived perennial, with twining to decumbent-creeping, slender, somewhat angular stems 2-5 m long; herbage sparsely to moderately hirsute with tawny, simple hairs 1-4 mm long, hairs spreading to slightly retrorse; leaf blades suborbicular, entire to narrowly and shallowly to moderately 3-lobed, 3-18 cm long, 3-20 cm wide, cordate with narrow sinus, acute to short-acuminate at apex and tips of lateral lobes, auricles rounded and entire, dark green, sparsely subappressed-hirsute on upper surface, much paler and more densely hirsute beneath; inflorescence cymose on peduncles 1-15 cm long, retrorsely hirsute; bracts linear to lanceolate, 5-11 mm long; flowers 1 to several on each peduncle; sepals linear, 15-30 mm long, nearly equal, bases ovate, 2.5-3 mm wide, gradually narrowing into linear terminal blade, densely hirsute; corolla funnelform, 2.5-6 cm long, pale blue to deep blue, throat and tube gradually ampliate, paler than limb, this 3-5 cm across, glabrous without; stamens subequal, the shorter 12-40 mm long, the longer 15-45 mm long, conspicuously glandular-hirsute toward base; style 15-30 mm long, slender; stigma shallowly bilobed, granular; capsules ovoid to depressed-subglobose, 7-8 mm high, 8-12 mm thick, 3-6-seeded; seeds 4.5-6 mm long, black or brown, sparsely to densely grayish-puberulent, or sometimes nearly glabrous"  (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; pp. 378-379).

Habitat/ecology:  "A pantropical species" (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; pp. 378-379). Arid lowlands in the Galápagos Islands (McMullen, 1999; p. 316).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Pantropic (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Floreana Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Alcedo, Isabela Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Pinta Group	Pinta Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santiago Group	Albany Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santiago Group	Mao Islet, Santiago Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santiago Group	Santiago Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 41) Vouchers cited: MacKee 21044, MacKee 43978 Spontané
New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) New Guinea Island	New Guinea Island	introduced	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced invasive cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Thickets on mountain slopes, waysides, fields, hedges; 0-1600 m. Cultivated or escaped.
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 195)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 187)
Japan Ryukyu Islands	Ryukyu Islands	introduced	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 195)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Thickets on mountain slopes, waysides, fields, hedges; 0-1600 m. Cultivated or escaped.
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	introduced	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Christmas Island Group	Christmas Island	introduced invasive	Swarbrick, J. T. (1997) (p. 116)
French Territory of Mayotte Mayotte Islands	Mayotte Island	introduced	Comité français de l'Union Internationale pour la Conservation de la Nature en France (2010) Naturalisée, potentiellement envahissant.

Additional information:
Additional online information about Ipomoea nil is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Ipomoea nil as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Ipomoea nil may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Comité français de l'Union Internationale pour la Conservation de la Nature en France. 2010. Les espéces envahissantes en outre-mer (online resource).

Heine, Heino. 1984. 13. Convolvulacées. In: Morat, Ph.. et H. S. MacKee. Flore de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et Dépendances. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

McMullen, C. K. 1999. Flowering plants of the Galápagos. Comstock Pub. Assoc., Ithaca, N.Y. 370 p.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Swarbrick, J. T. 1997. Environmental weeds and exotic plants on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean: a report to Parks Australia. 101 pp. plus appendix.

Wiggins, I. L./Porter, D. M. 1971. Flora of the Galapágos Islands. Stanford University Press. 998 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).