Ipomoea hildebrandtii

Nomenclature

Accepted name/Authority/Place of publication: 

Ipomoea hildebrandtii Vatke in Linnaea. 43: 511 (1882); Bak. & Rendle in F.T.A. 4(2): 193 (1906); T.T.C.L.: 171 (1949); Verde. in Webbina 13:325 (1958). Type: Kenya, Teita, Buitchuma, Hildebrandt 2843 (B holo. Destroyed). 

Synonyms: 

Ipomoea decora Vatke & Hildebr. in Monatschr. Ver. Gart. Preuss. Stat. 22: 139, t.2 (1879), non Meisn. (1869), nom. Illegit.

Rivea decora (Vatke & Hildebr.) Hall. F. in E.J. 18: 156 (1893).

Argyreia populifolia Choisy var. africana Oliv. in T.L.S. 29: 114 (1875).

Ipomoea populifolia sensu Hall. F in E.J. 28: 53 (1899) quoad Speke & Grant 627, non (Choisy) Hall. F.

Ipomoea gillei Staner in Ann. Soc. Sc. Brux. 58: 109 (1938).

Description

Habit: 
Very variable, sub-woody shrublet, 1–4 m tall; stems covered with soft grey pubescence.
Leaves: 
Lamina ovate to broadly elliptic, 2–22 x 3.5–17 cm; base rounded to subtruncate or sometimes subcordate; apex acute; glabrous, glabrescent or rarely pubescent above; puberulent beneath; nerves and margin silvery puberulent; petiole 2.5–20 cm long with two glands at the top.
Inflorescences: 
solitary flowers or in 2–10 dense or lax branched cymes; peduncle hairy, 1–18 cm long; bracts deciduous, 1–2.6 x 0.5–1.4 cm; secondary peduncles and pedicels 2–20 cm long.
Flowers: 
Sepals elliptic, oblong or oblong lanceolate; outer sepals 10–25 x 5–11 mm, obtuse or acute, pubescent or woolly; inner sepals shorter, hairy in the middle and apiculate. Corolla infundibular, white or purple with different tube-limb colour combinations in each subspecies, 4–11.5 cm long, sparsely puberulous.
Fruits: 
Capsule globose, about 12–17 cm long.
Seeds: 
globular, angular, 7–8 x 5–6 mm, covered with dark brown adpressed hairs and also bearing an apical tuft.
Author: 
Javier A. Luna
References: 

Demissew, S. 2006. Convolvulaceae. In: Hedberg, I., E. Kelbessa, S. Edwards, S. Demissew and E. Persson (eds.), Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea, vol. 5, pp. 227–231. The National Herbarium Addis Ababa University and The Department of Systematic Botany Uppsala University; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Uppsala, Sweden.

Maquet, P., Convovulaceae. 1985. In: Troupin, G. (ed.), Flore du Rwanda, Spermatophytes, vol, 3, pp. 231–254. Agence de Cooperation Culturelle et Technique, Liège.

Verdcourt, B. 1963. Convolvulaceae. In: Hubbard, C.E. and E. Milne-Redhead (eds.), Flora of Tropical East Africa, pp. 144–145. Crown Agent for Overseas governments and administrations, London.

Verdcourt, B. 1962. Notes from the East Africa Herbarium: XIII. Kew Bulletin 15(3): 443–445. 

Biogeography, Ecology and Natural History

Distribution Map: 
Distribution: 

Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda.

Ecology: 

Open grassland with scattered trees or bushes and/or upland scrub; 400–1700 (–2000) m.  

Phenology: 

Number of collections seen: 11

months

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

# flowering  specimens

2

2

1

2

2

2

# fruiting specimens

1

1

 

Author: 
Javier A. Luna
References: 

Demissew, S. 2006. Convolvulaceae. In: Hedberg, I., E. Kelbessa, S. Edwards, S. Demissew and E. Persson (eds.), Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea, vol. 5, pp. 227–231. The National Herbarium Addis Ababa University and The Department of Systematic Botany Uppsala University; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Uppsala, Sweden.

Maquet, P., Convovulaceae. 1985. In: Troupin, G. (ed.), Flore du Rwanda, Spermatophytes, vol, 3, pp. 231–254. Agence de Cooperation Culturelle et Technique, Liège.

Verdcourt, B. 1963. Convolvulaceae. In: Hubbard, C.E. and E. Milne-Redhead (eds.), Flora of Tropical East Africa, pp. 144–145. Crown Agent for Overseas governments and administrations, London. 

Other information

Common names and uses: 
It is used medicinally in Uganda base on herbarium label data (Bagshawe & Camb 1585 BM).
Infraspecific Characters: 

Three subspecies are recognised with subsp. grantii spread in Uganda, Kenya,Tanzanya, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda; subsp. hildebrantii restricted to Kenya and Tanzania; and subsp. megaënsis restricted to Kenya and southern Ethiopia. The three are distinguished by the corolla length (4–8.5 cm in subsp. grantii (5.7–)7–11.5 cm in subsp. hildebrantii and 4–5.5 cm in subsp. megaënsis), the corolla colour (in the same order purple with pale or white limb; limb pale, white or purple; and all purple); the bracts and sepal indumentum type (pubescent; hairy or villous; and silky-tomentose to villous respectively); and the bracts and sepals length to breath ratio of ((2.25–)2.9–4.16, 1.63–2.8 and 2.4–3.12 respectively).

Authorship for webpage

Editor: 
Javier A Luna, Mark A. Carine, Sebsebe Demissew.
Contributors: 
Acknowledgements: 
This species page was produced as part of the project ‘Expanding the scope of African Digital Plant Resources’ funded by the World Collections Programme.
Classification: 
Ipomoea hildebrandtii

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