Ipomoea purpurea (L.) Roth, Convolvulaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: common morning-glory, tall morning-glory

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Annual herb.  Stems glabrous or bristly-pubescent, trailing or twining.  Leaf-blade ovate, entire or 3-lobed, 7.5 cm long and wide, acuminate at the apex, cordate at the base, glabrous or pubescent; petiole 7.5-9 cm long.  Flowers solitary or in few-flowered cymes; peduncle up to 12 cm long; pedicels 1.3-2.5 cm long.  Sepals lanceolate, 1.3-1.6 cm long, 1.5-4.5 mm wide, usually not conspicuously attenuated at the apex, bristly below, finely pubescent all over.  Corolla white, pink or magenta; tube white below, 4-5 cm long.  Capsule 1.1 cm in diameter, glabrous, 3-locular"  (Verdcourt, 1963; p. 114).

Habitat/ecology:  "Established on waste and cultivated ground; 900-1750 m" (Verdcourt, 1963; p. 114).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  South America, now widely naturalized in the tropics (Verdcourt, 1963; p. 114).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 93)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005)

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

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

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

References:

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

Tassin, Jacques. 2005. Jacques Tassin (IAC-CIRAD), personal communication.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Verdcourt, B. 1963. Convolvulaceae. In: C. E. Hubbard and R. M. Redhead, eds. Flora of tropical East Africa. Crown Agents, London.