38. Ipomoea triloba Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 161. 1753.
[I W]
Littlebell
Annuals. Stems usually twining, sometimes trailing. Leaf blades orbiculate, broadly ovate, or 3–7-lobed, 20–80 × 20–70 mm overall, base cordate, basal lobes angular, lobed, or rounded, surfaces glabrous or sparsely pilose. Peduncles glabrous, distally verruculose. Flowers: sepals narrowly elliptic-oblong, lanceolate, or oblong, 6–7 mm, chartaceous or coriaceous, margins ciliate, apex acute or obtuse, mucronulate-caudate, surface glabrous or abaxial sparsely hairy; corolla lavender, funnelform, 10–20 mm. 2n = 30, 60.
Flowering year-round. Disturbed sites; -40–100 m; introduced; Calif., Fla.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South America; introduced also in Asia.
Ipomoea triloba seeds are sometimes a contaminant in rice and other seeds.
Ipomoea trifida (Kunth) G. Don (Convolvulus trifidus Kunth) was incorrectly ascribed to Florida by J. K. Small (1933) on the basis of an unusual and incorrectly identified specimen of I. triloba.
