Ipomoea ternata Jacq.

Wood, John R. I., Munoz-Rodriguez, Pablo, Williams, Bethany R. M. & Scotland, Robert W., 2020, A foundation monograph of Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) in the New World, PhytoKeys 143, pp. 1-823 : 1

212. Ipomoea ternata Jacq. , Pl. Hort. Schoenbr. 1: 16, t. 37. 1797. (Jacquin 1797a: 16)

Ipomoea thomsoniana Mast , Gardener’s Chronicle new series 20: 818. 1883. (Masters 1883: 818). Type. "East Indies" [error for JAMAICA], cult. Masters s.n. (holotype K000612816).

Ipomoea saxicola Proctor, J. Arnold Arbor. 63(3): 292. 1982. (Proctor 1982: 292). Type. JAMAICA. Clarendon Parish, Glenwood Springs, along road between Balcarres and Sunbury, 27 Sept. 1974, G.R. Proctor 34185 (holotype GH00054580, isotypes BM, NY).

Ipomoea ternata var. saxicola (Proctor) J.R.I. Wood & Scotland, Kew Bull. 14. 2017. (Wood and Scotland 2017c: 14).

Type.

Cultivated from material collected in Jamaica, Jacquin s.n. (holotype W0042716).

Description.

Robust liana to 16 m from a large root tuber; stem woody, glabrous, sometimes warted. Leaves petiolate, digitately divided into three leaflets, leaflets 7.5-14 × 3.5-6.5 cm, obovate, abruptly narrowed to an acute, obtuse or retuse, mucronate apex, base cuneate with a distinct petiole 2-5 mm long, very coriaceous, fleshy and glossy, glabrous; petioles 2.3-7.2 cm. Inflorescence of several pedunculate flowers from the leaf axils, arising on stubby brachyblasts, sometimes cauliflorous on old plants; peduncles 5-12 mm; bracteoles caducous, not seen; pedicels 30-38 mm; sepals glabrous, very unequal, elliptic, margins slightly scarious, outer 7-10 × 7-9 mm, rounded, inner 17-20 × 12-14 mm, obtuse; corolla c. 5 cm long, funnel-shaped, white, the tube tinged red. Capsules ellipsoid, 15-18 × 12 mm glabrous; seeds pilose with long silky marginal hairs, 10-12 mm in length.

Distribution.

Endemic to Jamaica, growing on wooded limestone hills.

JAMAICA. St Ann, W.T. Stearn 593 (BM), ibid., Union Hill, G.R. Proctor 26486 (BM); ibid., Clydesdale, W.R. Philipson 1134 (BM); Manchester, W. Stearn 377 (BM, K), ibid., Old England, W. Harris 6598 (BM); St Andrew, I. Maxwell s.n. [1/1927] (BM), ibid., Cinchona, W. Harris 7410 (BM); St Catherine, Perkins 9005 (BM, K); Portland, G.R. Proctor 8574 (BM); Trelawny, Grady Webster et al. 5374 (BM, S), 5634 (BM); ibid., West & Arnold 280 (BM); Clarendon, Bird Cave Rock, B.D. Morley et al. 939 (BM) - var. saxicola ; Glenwood Springs, G.R. Procter 33630 (BM) - var. saxicola .

Notes. Although most specimens of Ipomoea ternata are glabrous, a very distinct roughly pilose variety has been found near Glenwood Springs in Clarendon Parish. Originally described as a distinct species this can be recognised as var. saxicola .