Volume 10 > Part 3 > Year 2010 > Page 418 > Convolvulaceae > Ipomoea

16. Ipomoea nil (L.) Rothwfo-0000747940

Cat. Bot. 1: 36. 1797; Ooststr., Blumea 3: 497. 1940; Fl. Males. ser. 1, 4: 465. 1953; Kerr, Fl. Siam. Enum. 3(2): 14. 1954; R.C.Fang & Staples in C.Y.Wu & P.H.Raven, Fl. China 16: 305. 1995.— Convolvulus nil L., Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 219. 1762. Plate XLVII: 1.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Annual herbaceous twiners, axial parts hirsute with retrorse hairs; stems 2–5 m. Leaves broadly ovate or nearly circular, 4–15 by 4.5–14 cm, hirtellous, base cordate, margin entire or vaguely 3-lobed (rarely 5-lobed), apex acuminate; petiole 2–15 cm. Inflorescences axillary, 1 to few-flowered; peduncle 1.5–18.5 cm; bracts linear or filiform, 5–8 mm, spreading hirtellous; pedicel 0.2–0.7 cm. Flower: sepals lanceolate, subequal, 17–25 mm, outside spreading hirsute, hairs with a swollen base, subglabrous apically, with a linear acumen; corolla funnelform, 5–6 cm, pale to bright blue with whitish tube, fading to pinkish in age, glabrous; stamens included, unequal; pistil included, ovary glabrous, 3-celled, stigma 3-lobed. Capsule ovoid to subglobose, 8–10 mm diam., straw-coloured, glabrous. Seeds ovoid-trigonous, 5–6 mm, black, grey puberulent.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lamphun, Lampang, Tak; NORTH EASTERN: Loei, Nong Khai, Khon Kaen; EASTERN: Nakhon Ratchasima; SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi; CENTRAL: Lop Buri, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok); SOUTH-EASTERN: Sa Kaeo, Prachin Buri, Chachoengsao, Rayong, Trat; PENINSULAR: Surat Thani, Trang.

Distribution : Kashmir, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, New Guinea, Australia, native of S America, now nearly circumtropical as a naturalized weed and cultivated ornamental. Type a cultivated plant (England).

Ecology : Open, mixed deciduous forests, scrub jungle, fire-damaged, degraded hardwood forests with much bamboo, as well as vacant lots, gardens, rubbish dumps, roadside, on diverse soil types, 50–700 m alt. Flowering: January, June, August–December; fruiting: January, June, August–December.

Vernacular : Wan tam khoei (ว่านตำเคย)(Prachin Buri); wan phak bung (ว่านผักบุ้ง)(Bangkok); chi chao (จีเช่า)(Chiang Mai); phak bung phi (ผักบุ้งผี)(Loei).

Notes: Widely cultivated and naturalized, especially in the eastern and southeastern regions of the Kingdom. Ipomoea nil is a typical short-day plant, flowering when daylength decreases and nights are at their longest during the cool dry season (October through December).