Family |
Convolvulaceae
Ipomoea purpurea
(L.) Roth
Ipomoea purpurea (L.) Roth
First published in Bot. Abh. Beobacht.: 27 (1787).
(Botanische Abhandlungen und Beobachtungen, p. 27; 1787. Supplementary morphology: Kew Bulletin, 2015.)
Description
Synonym & original name: Convolvulus purpureus L., Species Plantarum, edition 2, vol. 1, p. 219 (1762).
Life-form & habit: Twining annual with hairy stems, according to the modern Kew Bulletin treatment of Ipomoea in Bolivia (2015).
Leaves: Roth’s 1787 diagnosis describes undivided, heart-shaped leaves. The modern treatment describes ovate blades, rarely three-lobed, usually 3–8 × 3.5–8 cm but reaching 15 × 14 cm, with pointed tips, heart-shaped bases and hairs on both surfaces; petioles 3–15 cm long.
Inflorescence & flowers: In the modern treatment, axillary cymes carry two to five flowers. Sepals 11–17 × 2–3 mm, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, bristly especially in the lower half. Corolla funnel-shaped, hairless, 4–5 cm long, with a white tube and usually pink, sometimes cream or bluish limb, about 4 cm across.
Original reproductive description: Roth describes an ovate, pointed ovary passing into the style, with a yellowish nectary surrounding its base. Style white, undivided, thicker below and tapering upwards; stigma white, rounded and three-lobed.
Fruit: Roth describes nodding fruits on thickened stalks and a three-chambered capsule.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: No flowering calendar is given in Roth’s original account. A Lebanese flowering period has not been verified from the sources consulted.
Habitat & elevation: Roth notes widespread ornamental cultivation in gardens. Lebanese habitat and elevation limits have not been verified from a regional account.
Status in Lebanon: Introduced: Kew explicitly includes Lebanon-Syria among the introduced regions.
Distribution
Recorded locations: Chebaa.
Native range: Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Chile Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Introduced into: Alabama, Altay, Angola, Arkansas, Assam, Austria, Baleares, Bangladesh, British Columbia, Bulgaria, California, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Central European Russia, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Colorado, Connecticut, Cuba, Cyprus, Delaware, District of Columbia, Dominican Republic, DR Congo, East European Russia, East Himalaya, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Florida, France, Free State, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hainan, Haiti, Hawaii, Illinois, India, Indiana, Iowa, Iran, Italy, Kansas, Kentucky, Kenya, Korea, KwaZulu-Natal, Lebanon-Syria, Leeward Is., Lesotho, Louisiana, Madagascar, Madeira, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mauritius, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nebraska, Nepal, Nevada, New Caledonia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New South Wales, New York, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Provinces, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pakistan, Pennsylvania, Philippines, Primorye, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Québec, Rhode I., Rodrigues, Romania, Rwanda, Réunion, Sicilia, South Carolina, South Dakota, South European Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tadzhikistan, Tanzania, Tennessee, Texas, Thailand, Tibet, Tunisia, Tuva, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Uganda, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Himalaya, West Siberia, West Virginia, Windward Is., Wisconsin, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Distribution qualification: Kew also flags Thailand as doubtfully present.
Sources:
Roth, Botanische Abhandlungen und Beobachtungen, p. 27 (1787), original publication under Ipomoea; supplementary vegetative and floral measurements from Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) in Bolivia, Kew Bulletin (2015), DOI: 10.1007/s12225-015-9592-7. Author, first publication and geographic status checked against Kew POWO.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Roth explicitly transferred the plant from Convolvulus to Ipomoea on the evidence of its capsule, style and stigma. No matching Mouterde account was located; the original and modern descriptions are therefore attributed separately, and information from Bolivia is not presented as Lebanese phenology or habitat.