Beach morning glory

Convolvulus imperati Vahl, Symb. Bot. 1: 17. 1790

Perennials. Stems repent, root­ing at nodes and underground. Leaf blades lanceolate, linear, oblong, ovate, or 3–5-lobed, 15–80 × 12–60 mm, base cor­date to truncate, surfaces glabrous. Peduncles glabrous. Flowers: sepals lance-oblong, 10–15 mm, outers shorter than inners, ± coriaceous, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface glabrous; corolla white, throat usually yellow, sometimes purplish inside, funnelform, 25–50 mm. 2n = 30.

Flowering year-round. Beaches, dunes; 0–10 m; Ala., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tex.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South America; Pacific Islands (Hawaii); introduced in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia.

Ipomoea imperati was collected once in Pennsylvania (on ballast in 1865). The names I. littoralis (Linnaeus) Boissier 1875, not Blume 1826, and I. stolonifera (Cirillo) J. F. Gmelin are illegitimate; both have been misapplied to plants of I. imperati.