Ipomoea mauritiana

Nomenclature

Accepted name/Authority/Place of publication:

Ipomoea mauritiana Jacq., Collectanea 4: 216. 1791.

Synonyms:

Misapplied name: Ipomoea digitata authors not L.: e.g., Gagnep. & Courchet in Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 4: 239. 1915; Ooststr., Blumea 3: 558. 1940; Fl. Males. I, 4: 483. 1953; Kerr, Fl. Siam. 3(2): 12. 1954, Nguyen Thi Nhan in Averyanov et al., Vascular plants synopsis of Vietnamese flora. 178. 1990.

Description

Habit:

Herbs perennial, twining, with glabrous or minutely muricate axial parts. Roots tuberous. Stems to 10 m, thinly angular.

Leaves:

Petiole 3–11 cm; leaf blade circular in outline, 7–18 × 7–22 cm, usually palmately 5–7-divided to or beyond middle, rarely entire or shallowly lobed; segments lanceolate or elliptic, glabrous or sparsely pubescent along midvein, entire or irregularly undulate, apex acuminate or acute, mucronulate.

Inflorescences:

Inflorescences few to many flowered; peduncle 2.5–20 cm; bracts early deciduous. Pedicel 9–22 mm.

Flowers:

Sepals ± circular, oblong to broadly elliptic, concave, equal or outer 2 sepals shorter, 7–12 mm, glabrous, apex obtuse. Corolla pink or reddish purple, with a darker center, funnelform, 5–6 cm; limb 5–7 cm in diam., undulate. Stamens included. Pistil included; ovary glabrous; stigma 2-lobed.

Fruits:

Capsule ovoid, 1.2–1.4 cm.

Seeds:

Seeds dark brown, ca. 6 mm, woolly-sericeous with long, easily detached hairs.

Author:

Fang R.C. & G. Staples

References:

Fang R.C., G. Staples, et al. 1995. Convolvulaceae in P. Raven & C.Y. Wu (eds.) Flora of China 16: 271–325.

Cytology

Chromosome number:

Author:

Fang R.C. & G. Staples

References:

Fang R.C., G. Staples, et al. 1995. Convolvulaceae in P. Raven & C.Y. Wu (eds.) Flora of China 16: 271–325.

Biogeography, Ecology and Natural History

Distribution Map:

Distribution:

Origin unknown, but probably tropical America; widely distributed and naturalized in Asia: China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, S Yunnan), Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan (Ogasawara and Ryukyu Islands), Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; Pacific Islands.

Ecology:

China: Waste
places, dwarf forests near seashores, thickets, montane forests, streamsides; 0–1100
m.

Thailand: Open,
disturbed areas in evergreen-deciduous forest, secondary vegetation and
disturbed sites, scrub, thickets, grassy swamp country, vacant land in towns,
on sandy soils and shale substrate; altitude: 0–378 m.

Phenology:

Flowering: May, June, August, September; fruiting: August, September, November.

Author:

Fang R.C. & G. Staples

References:

Fang R.C., G. Staples, et al. 1995. Convolvulaceae in P. Raven & C.Y. Wu (eds.) Flora of China 16: 271–325.

Staples, G. 2010. Convolvulaceae. Fl. Thailand 10(3): 330–468.

Other information

Common names and uses:

qi zhao long (Chinese). The leaves and roots are used externally to treat tuberculosis and infections of the breasts, as well as external infections. Bong len, phal bung rua, man mu, mun cha ra khe, hu-bi-bo-yo (Thai).

General comments:

The origin of this species is unknown, but it may have originated in tropical America, where its nearest relatives occur. The type specimen was cultivated in a garden in Vienna; the source for the seeds is unknown.

Ipomoea mauritiana has often and persistently been misidentified in the botanical literature and in herbaria as Ipomoea digitata L., a rare West Indian endemic that does not occur in Asia.

Authorship for webpage

Editor:

George Staples, Esmond Er

Contributors:

Convolvulaceae Unlimited

Convolvulaceae

Ipomoea mauritiana

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