Ipomoea alba L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 161 (1753)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Tropical & Subtropical America. It is a climbing herbaceous tree or liana and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome. It is used as a poison and a medicine, has environmental uses and for food.

Descriptions

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/126421388/158506713

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

Convolvulaceae, Maria Leonor Gonçalves. Flora Zambesiaca 8:1. 1987

Morphology General Habit
Ornamental species, annual or perennial, glabrous or rarely pubescent.
Morphology Stem
Stems twining or prostrate, thick, smooth or rarely muriculate.
Morphology Leaves
Leaf-lamina ovate or circular, in outline, entire or 3-lobed, 6–20 × 5–16 cm., acute, acuminate or obtuse at the mucronulate apex, cordate at the base; petiole 5–20 cm. long, slender.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence axillary, 1-several-flowered; peduncle stout, 1–24 cm. long; pedicels 0·7–1·5 cm. long, lengthening to 2·5–3 cm. long and becoming very thick and clavate in fruit.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals unequal, elliptic, coriaceous, often reflexed in fruit and glabrous; outer 2–3 sepals 5–12 mm. long with long awn-like appendage 4–10 mm. long at the apex; inner ones longer, 8–15 mm. long, shortly mucronulate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla opening at night, scented, white or greenish-cream below; tube cylindrical 7–12 × 0·5 cm.; limb salver-shaped, 11–16 cm. wide.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule mucronulate 2·5–3 cm. long, glabrous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 4, ovoid, brown or black, glabrous and smooth.
[FZ]

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution
Nativa y cultivada en Colombia; Alt. 0 - 1780 m.; Amazonia, Andes, Guayana y Serranía de La Macarena, Llanura del Caribe, Pacífico, Valle del Magdalena.
Morphology General Habit
Trepadora
Conservation
No Evaluada
[CPLC]

Bernal, R., G. Galeano, A. Rodríguez, H. Sarmiento y M. Gutiérrez. 2017. Nombres Comunes de las Plantas de Colombia. http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co/nombrescomunes/

Vernacular
batata, batatilla, dama de noche
[UNAL]

Wood, J.R.I., Carine, M.A., Harris, D. et al. 2015. Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) in Bolivia. Kew Bulletin 70: 31. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-015-9592-7

Type
Type: India, Rheede, Hort Ind. Malabar 11: 103. t. 50 (1692), designated by Verdcourt in Hubbard & Milne-Redhead (1963: 130).
Morphology General Habit
Vigorous scrambling or trailing plant, stems to 10 m, glabrous, sometimes armed with soft spines
Morphology Leaves
Leaves petiolate, 5 – 15 × 4 – 14 cm, ovate, sometimes lobed to about one third, acuminate to a fine hair point, cordate at the base, auricles sometimes with broad teeth; petioles 3 – 18 cm
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence of 1 – 3-flowered, pedunculate, axillary cymes; peduncles 2 – 9 (– 20) cm, stout; bracteoles caducous, not seen; pedicels 5 – 15 mm, swollen below flower; sepals unequal, outer sepals 15 – 25 × 4 – 6 mm, lanceolate with a long awn 5 – 12 mm in length, green with white margins inner sepals 12 – 20 mm including a 2 – 5 mm long awn, ovate, whitish with green midrib; corolla with a cylindrical tube 5 – 12 cm long and a spreading, white limb 4 – 5 cm in diam., glabrous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule ovoid, c. 3 cm long, glabrous; seeds 11 – 13 mm long, glabrous
Ecology
A pantropical weedy species, not certainly known as a native anywhere. In Bolivia widely distributed in disturbed damp bushy places, particularly along shaded tropical streams, mostly below about 1600 m where it behaves as if native. It is also cultivated growing in gardens as high as Sucre (2800 m) and Cochabamba (2600 m) as well as in the lowlands. The list of specimens below does not reflect the total distribution as cultivated plants are not included and collections are not known from areas where the plant is known to grow such as the Zongo Valley near La Paz.
Conservation
Least Concern (LC).
Note
Unmistakeable when in flower but fruiting material is difficult to distinguish from Ipomoea muricata except by the longer aristate points of the sepals. Although it has been collected in flower in almost every month of the year, it is most commonly found in flower at the end of the summer rainy season from February to July. The flowers open at night and collapse early in the morning except on cloudy days.
[KBu]

Convolvulaceae, B. Verdcourt (East African Herbarium). Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1963

Morphology General Habit
A glabrous or very rarely pubescent, annual or perennial; stems prostrate or twining, up to 2.4 m. long, smooth or rarely muriculate.
Morphology Leaves
Leaf-blade ovate or orbicular in outline, entire or 3-lobed, 6–20 cm. long, 5–16 cm. wide, acute, acuminate or obtuse at the mucronulate apex, cordate at the base; petiole 5–20 cm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences axillary, 1–several-flowered; peduncle stout, 1–24 cm. long; pedicels 0.7–1.5 cm. long, lengthening to 2.5–3 cm. long and becoming very thick in fruit.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals elliptic, unequal; outer 2–3 sepals 5–12 mm. long, 6–7 mm. wide, with a long awn-like appendage 4–10 mm. long at the apex (Fig. 22/4, p. 102); inner sepals longer, 8–15 mm. long, 9 mm. wide, shortly mucronulate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla opening at night, scented, white or greenish-cream below; tube cylindrical, 7–12 cm. long, 5 mm. wide; limb salver-shaped, 11–16 cm. wide.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule ovoid, 2.5–3 cm. tall, glabrous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 4, ovoid, white to black, glabrous, 10–12 mm. long, 7–9 mm. wide.
Habitat
Waste places, rubbish heaps, locally established in upland and riverine forests etc.; 290–1000 m.
Distribution
originally American but now pantropical as an escape and also cultivated K1 K4 K7 T3 U2
[FTEA]

Convolvulaceae, H. Heine. Flora of West Tropical Africa 2. 1963

Morphology General Habit
A strong twiner with stems smooth or sparingly tuberculed
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Large white flowers 4-6 in. across the limb, exping fragrant at night
Ecology
Wild in secondary vegetation, but often cultivated for ornament.
[FWTA]

Distribution
Biogeografic region: Amazonia, Andean, Guiana Shield, Caribbean, Pacific. Elevation range: 0–1780 m a.s.l. Cultivated in Colombia. Native to Colombia. Colombian departments: Amazonas, Antioquia, Bolívar, Cesar, Chocó, Cundinamarca, Huila, Magdalena, Meta, Putumayo, Quindío, Santander, Valle del Cauca.
Habit
Climbing.
Conservation
IUCN Red List Assessment (2021): LC. National Red List of Colombia (2021): Potential LC.
Ecology
Habitat according IUCN Habitats Classification: forest and woodland, savanna, shrubland, native grassland, wetlands (inland), desert, artificial - terrestrial.
[UPFC]

Uses

Use Environmental
Environmental uses.
Use Food
Used for food.
Use Materials
Used as material.
Use Medicines
Medical uses.
Use Poisons
Poisons.
[UPFC]

Sources

  • Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • Flora of West Tropical Africa

    • Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
  • Kew Bulletin

    • Kew Bulletin
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images
  • Universidad Nacional de Colombia

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0