14. Ipomoea indica (Burman) Merrill, Interpr. Herb. Amboin. 445. 1917.
[W]
Oceanblue morning glory
Convolvulus indicus Burman, Auctuarium, index [6]. 1755; Ipomoea mutabilis Ker Gawler; Pharbitis cathartica (Poiret) Choisy
Perennials. Stems usually twining, sometimes trailing. Leaf blades cordate, rounded-ovate, or 3–5(–7)-lobed, 30–140 × 30–140 mm, base cordate to sagittate, surfaces glabrous or ± pilose. Peduncles glabrate or sparsely hairy, hairs antrorse to ± appressed. Flowers: sepals lance-ovate, 14–21 mm, herbaceous, apex ± acuminate, surfaces glabrous or abaxial sparsely hairy, hairs appressed; corolla usually blue to purple, rarely white, throat and tube white, funnelform, 50–70 mm. 2n = 30.
Flowering year-round. Roadsides, thickets; 0–1600 m; Ala., Calif., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., Pa., S.C., Tex.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South America; introduced in Asia.
In the flora area, Ipomoea indica rarely produces seeds and rarely survives winters. It is probably native in southern Florida.
SELECTED REFERENCE Fosberg, F. R. 1976. Ipomoea indica taxonomy: A tangle of morning glories. Bot. Not. 129: 35–38.
