Morning glory

Description

Ipomoea oenotherae is a species of plant of the morning glory genus, Ipomoea, in the family Convolvulaceae. It derives its name from the resemblance it bears to plants in the genus Oenothera. Ipomoea oenotherae is a succulent and a cryptophyte. Ipomoea oenotherae is a perennial succulent plant. It forms a fleshy, elongated tuberous rootstock, 30 cm in length, from which leaves grow every spring. These are followed by extended, prostrate or ascending stems which are up to 30 cm long. The young stems are angular and initially densely covered with silver white hairs (pilose); these later become hairless. The shape of the basal leaves, which are often in a rosette, is linear to lanceolate with petioles up to 7 cm long. The basal leaves are between 4 and 10 cm long, and 1 cm wide. They may be entire or have basal lobes or are lateral teeth. The leaves on the stems are 2 to 6.5 cm long and borne on 4 cm-long petioles; they are entire or subpalmately or pinnately 3-7 lobed and covered in silver-white hair. The flowers are solitary and axillary. The linear-subulate bracteole is 10 to 15 mm long and 0.5 to 1 mm wide. The rather club-shaped peduncle has a length of up to 15 mm. The flower is hermaphroditic and displays fivefold radial symmetry. The five unequal, often pink sepals are up to 15 mm long, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate and subaristate. The five mauve to violet petals are narrowly funnel-shaped, and 2.3 to 5 centimetres long. There is only a single ring of five stamens. The plant flowers during the summer. The spherical (globose), straw-coloured, smooth capsule has a diameter of approximately 6 mm. The seeds are up to 4 mm long, densely appressed, pubescent, velvety-tomentose with grayish hair. The distribution of Ipomoea oenotherae has been described as ranging "from Ethiopia and Somalia southwards to Namibia, Botswana and the Northern Province, North-West and Gauteng in South Africa". It is described as "not gregarious", meaning that it grows in open rather than dense clusters. Furthermore, it is described as "nowhere common".