Ipomoea CONVOLVULACEAE Quamoclit 



large and showy, the limb nearly entire; stamens and style included; stigma capitate: 

 fr. a dehiscent 4-6-seeded capsule. 400 species, in all tropical countries; 27 in China. 

 (Greek: ips, a worm, and homois, resembling, from the twining habit.) 



Key to the Species 

 a. Sepals broadly ovate, not extending into linear projections or heibaceous 

 lanceolate blades. 

 Stems pubescent: lvs., or some of them, lobed or notched: sepals 



cuspidate: roots fascicled and tuberous 1 • I- batatas 



Plant glabrous: lvs. entire: sepals not cuspidate: roots not tuberous 2. /. aquatica 

 aa. Sepals extending into linear projections or herbaceous lanceolate blades. 



Lvs. 3-lobed: sepals extending into linear points about 2cm. long.. 3. I. hederacea 

 Lvs. entire: sepals extending into erect linear or lanceolate herba- 

 ceous blades about 1 cm. long 4 . I. purpurea 



1. Ipomoea batatas (L.) Poir. Sweet Potato |£g (Hung Shao); \A}-^ (Shan Yti; 

 Sweet Tuber) (B.M. 819). Trailing perennial; fls. rose- violet, rare. Introduced 

 from tropical regions; locally in An., Hun., Hup., Ki., Ku. Cultivated, tubers. 



2. Ipomoea aquatica Forsk. (/. reptans Poir.) $&% (Yung Ts'ai) (M.F. 392, Ph. J. 59: 

 452). Spreading annual; fls. white, pink or purplist, VII-X. Introduced from the 

 eastern tropics; locally in An., Ku. Cultivated, vegetable. Fig. 307. 



3. Ipomoea hederacea (L.) Jacq. (Pharbitis hederacea (L.) Choisy) ^^J- (Ch'ien 

 Niu Tzu; To-lead-an-ox) (B.M. 821). Twining annual; fls. blue or purple, VII-VIII. 

 Tropical and subtropical regions; locally in An., Ki., Ku. Fields and roadsides. 



Ipomoea nil (L.) Roth was maintained in Merrill's " Flora of Manila " (p. 390), but was made a 

 synonym of I. hederacea in his "Enumeration of Philippine Plants" (3:365). Handel-Mazzetti 

 (Symbolae Sinicae 7:812) has used /. nil for specimens collected in Kiangsi Province, and the 

 species is held as distinct from /. hederacea in Bailey's " Manual of Cultivated Plants," revised 

 edition (p. 821). Both forms are found cultivated and naturalized in China. It has seemed to 

 the writer that the differences between these forms (including the key character of "tips of 

 sepals spreading or recurved" in /. hederacea, while " tips of sepals erect" is applied to I. nil) 

 are not sufficiently consistent to justify their separation as distinct species. 



4. Ipomoea purpurea (L.) Roth Morning Glory (B.M. 820). Twining annual; fls. 

 purplish, VII-IX. Introduced from tropical America; locally in Che., Hup., Ku. 

 Planted, ornamental. 



3. Quamoclit Moench J$HM (Niao Lo Shu) 

 Climbing vines, often with dissected lvs. and brightly colored fls. in axillary 

 clusters" calyx lobes often awned; corolla salverform, with a long tube; stamens and 

 style exserted; stigma capitate: fr. a 4-celled capsule. 10 species, tropical regions; 3 

 cultivated in China. (From the Greek terms meaning "a dwarf kidney bean".) 



Key to the Species 



Lvs. deeply cleft or divided, 

 Lvs. pinnately dissected into almost filiform segments: sepals cuspidate 1. Q. pennata 

 Lvs. deeply semi-palmately 7- or more-parted into usually linear divisions: 



sepals distinctly awned 2 • ^- sloten 



Lvs. entire or 3-lobed: sepals long-awned 3 - $■ coccinea 



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