Re: Ipomoea indica
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Re: Ipomoea indica
- From: "* A* O* <s*@poboxes.com>
- Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 14:29:21 -0800
At 01:23 PM 1/22/99 -0800, Gary Matson wrote:
>
>Uh-oh, now not only have you probably opened up a new fascinating series
>of stories, but have also raised another taxonomy question. The plant I
>have been (semi-)confidently calling I. acuminata now has a second
>alias. Sunset Book (1995 edition) lists I. leari as a synonym, and now
>you come up with I. indica. Here I am, struggling to keep a home-grown
>data base under control, and now what am I to do?? (we need more of
>those little 'emoticons' for semi-facetiously presented yet gently
>serious questions.)
>
>I really would like to know which name is 'most' correct, and why.
Uh-oh, Gary -
Seems like it doesn't end here! To further add to the confusion, here is
some 'definitive' information from
http://herbaria.harvard.edu/china/convo/conv070.htm :
Ipomoea indica (J. Burman) Merrill, Interpr. Herb. Amboin. 445. 1917.
Synonymy:
Convolvulus indicus J. Burman, Index Univ. Herb. Amb. 7: 6. 1755; C.
acuminatus Vahl; C. congestus (R. Brown) Sprengel; Ipomoea acuminata (Vahl)
Roemer & Schultes; I. amoena Blume; I. cataractae Endlicher; I. cathartica
Poiret; I. congesta R. Brown; I. insularis (Choisy) Steudel; I.
kiuninsularis Masamune; I. learii Paxton; I. mutabilis Lindley;
Parasitipomoea formosana Hayata; Pharbitis
acuminata (Vahl) Choisy; P. acuminata var. congesta (R. Brown) Choisy; P.
cathartica (Poiret) Choisy; P. indica (J. Burman) R. C. Fang; P. insularis
Choisy; P. learii (Paxton) Lindley.
Herbs twining or sometimes prostrate, with ± densely retrorse pilose axial
parts. Stems 3-6 m, sometimes rooting at nodes. Petiole 2-18 cm; leaf blade
ovate or circular, 5-15 X 3.5-14 cm, abaxially densely short, soft,
pubescent, adaxially ± sparsely pubescent, base cordate, margin entire or ±
3-lobed, apex acuminate or abruptly acuminate. Inflorescences dense
umbellate cymes, several flowered; peduncle 4-20 cm; bracts linear,
sometimes lanceolate. Pedicel 2-5(-8) mm. Sepals subequal, 1.4-2.2 cm,
gradually linear-acuminate apically, glabrous to appressed pilose; outer 3
lanceolate to broadly lanceolate; inner 2 narrowly lanceolate. Corolla
bright blue or bluish purple, aging reddish purple or red, with a paler
center, funnelform, 5-8 cm, glabrous. Stamens included. Pistil included;
ovary glabrous. Stigma 3-lobed. Capsule ± globose, 1-1.3 cm in diam. Seeds
ca. 5 mm. 2n = 30*.
Coastal habitats, moist forests, weedy; 0-500 m. Guangdong, Nanhai Zhudao,
Taiwan [Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Guinea, Pakistan,
Philippines, Sri Lanka; Pacific Islands, native of South America, now
circumtropical as a cultivated and naturalized plant].
Fosberg (Bot. Not. 129: 35-38. 1976) has sorted out the complicated
nomenclature for this pantropical species and established that Ipomoea
indica is the correct name for it.
I think it is pretty common for plants such as this which are distributed
throughout the world to have very confused nomeclature!
Bob Beer ask me offline about a seed source for this plant - I have looked
for one in the past, and looked again, to no avail. Seems that this guy
rarely produces seed (likely the reason for the continuous floriferosity!),
being usually propagated by cuttings. It spans several back yards in my
own neighborhood, so if anyone wants some, I'm sure people would be willing
to oblidge!
Regards,
Sean O.
