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 Flower Liz Makings @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Leaf and fruit Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org |  Plant Marc Baker @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) |  Plant Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org | | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Annual Similar Species: Ipomoea cardiophylla, I. hederacea
General Desc:
Trailing vine with smooth, slender stems climbing onto other plants for support. Green leaf blades are round to oval in outline with 5 to 7 deep lobes. The 3/4 inch trumpet-shaped flowers are purplish-blue or white (rarely) with a yellow or white throat.
Identification notes: Hairless leaves and stems; stems trailing 5 to 6 feet; leaves deeply lobed, glandular dots on lower surface; sepals narrow gradually to a point (acuminate) and have spreading, long hairs; flowers purplish-blue (sometimes white), about 3/4 inches long.
Height:
Up to 6 feet in length
Habitat Description: Found on rocky slopes and canyons, in washes, grasslands, chaparral and oak-woodlands often climbing on or wrapping around grasses, shrubs, small mesquites and other plants or trees that can provide support.
Plant Communities:
Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest
Elevation: 2500 - 8000 feet
Color:
Purplish-blue, white (rarely)
Shape:
Regular in round clusters
Tubular:
Y
Flowering Period:
Jul - Dec
Description:
Trumpet-shaped (funnelform) flowers grow in clusters of 1 to 3 from the leaf axils (between leaf and stem). Below each flower are green, linear leaf-like sepals with stiff, straight, white hairs. Flowers open in the morning and close in the afternoon.
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Round or oval
Leaf Margin:
Lobed
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
No
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
The leaves are round to oval in outline, usually smooth and dotted with glands below, with 5 to 7 deep lobes and growing to about 1/2 inch long and 5/8 inch wide. The leaf base is heart-shaped. The lobes are lance-shaped and narrowed toward the base.
Fruit Color: Light brown
Fruit Type: Capsule
Fruit Notes: Fruit is a smooth, rounded capsule 1/2 inch long with a short, sharply pointed, flexible tip (apiculate). The fruit has 2 to 3 chambers (locules) that contain the seeds. The flower's leaf-like sepals with long stiff hairs remain attached below the fruit.
Seed Notes: The fruit produces 1 to 6 dry seeds (usually 4) which are about 1/4 inch long, dark brown to black, pear-shaped (pyriform) with hairs pressed close to and lying flat against the surface of the seed.
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