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Ipomoea imperati

Diagnostic description 4

Ipomoea imperati (Vahl) Griseb., Cat. Pl. Cub. 203. 1866.

Fig. 66. C-E

Basionym: Convolvulus imperati Vahl

Synonyms: Ipomoea stolonifera J. F. Gmel.

Convolvulus littoralis L.

Ipomoea littoralis (L.) Boiss, non Blume

Erect herb or creeping or sometimes ascending vine, slightly woody, attaining 2 m in length, with milky latex. Stems cylindrical, slender, glabrous, producing adventitious roots in the area of the nodes. Leaves alternate, usually clustered on short axillary branches; blades simple, 2-10 × 1-2.5 cm, lanceolate, oblong, or deltoid, sometimes subsagittate, lyrate, or deeply trilobed, fleshy when fresh, chartaceous on drying, glabrous, the apex obtuse, rounded, or sometimes emarginate, mucronate, the base cuneiform, truncate, subcordiform to subsagittate; upper surface dull, glabrous, with the veins flat; lower surface glabrous, with the primary and secondary veins prominent; petioles 1-6.5 cm long, sulcate, pilose at the apex. Flowers solitary or in ascending dichasial cymes; peduncles 1.5-4.5 cm long. Calyx green, not accrescent, the sepals 10-15 mm long, elliptical, aristate at the apex, the margin hyaline, the two outer ones slightly longer than the inner ones, glabrous; corolla white, with a yellow center, infundibuliform, 2.5-5 cm long, the limb 3-6 cm in diameter, with 5 shallow, obtuse lobes; stamens and stigmas not exserted. Capsules globose or conical, 1.2-1.5 cm long; seeds 1-4 per fruit, ca. 5 mm long, lanate-pubescent.

Phenology: Collected in flower from October to March.

Status: Native, uncommon.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 7039; 9294; Britton, N.L. 199; 1544; 1716; Goll, G.P. 959; Heller, A.A. 42; Sargent, F.H. 726; Shafer, J.A. 2399; Sintenis, P. 976; Stevenson, J.A. 356.

Distribution 5

Distribution: Along the sandy coasts of the northern littoral zone. Also on Culebra and Vieques. A pantropical species, distributed along the sandy coasts of the littoral zone.

Public forest: Guánica and Piñones

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Forest & Kim Starr, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Starr_010309-0538_Ipomoea_imperati.jpg
  2. (c) Gnom, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Strandwinde.jpg
  3. (c) Mikael Behrens, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Mikael Behrens
  4. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435227
  5. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435755

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