Ipomoea gesnerioides

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

80. Ipomoea gesnerioides J.A. McDonald, Sida 15: 173. 1992. (McDonald 1992: 173)

Type.

MEXICO. Oaxaca, 10.4 miles W of Santiago Astata, M. Luckow 2605 (holotype TEX00372566, isotypes: A, MEXU, US).

Description.

Woody vine; stems erect, eventually twining and twisted, 0.5-3 m long and up to 1 cm thick, villous when young but glabrescent when old, the stem base swollen and succulent. Leaves petiolate, 2-8 × 1.5-5 cm, broadly elliptic to subrhomboid, base cuneate, rounded or truncate, apex acute to acuminate, adaxially dark green puberulent, abaxially canescent; petioles 0.5-3.5 cm long. Inflorescence of axillary and terminal, bracteate pseudoraceme; flowers solitary in the axils of the petiolate bracts; peduncles absent; bracteoles triangular, stipule-like; pedicels 2-9 mm, puberulent; sepals subequal, 11-15 × 5-7 mm, oblong-elliptic, acute to obtuse, grey-green-canescent; corolla 3.5-4 cm long, urceolate, pubescent, basal cylindrical part 6-8 × 4-8 mm, greenish, then abruptly dilated for 2.5-3.5 cm. 1.5-2 cm wide, limb flared, lobed, 2.5-3 cm diam., midpetaline bands green between purplish petaline regions, stamens included. Capsules ellipsoid, 11-13 × 8-10 mm, glabrous; seeds 6-7 × 3.5 mm, puberulent and densely lanate from the marginal hairs.

Illustration: McDonald (1992: 174).

Distribution.

Endemic to the Tehuantepec region of SE Oaxaca in southern Mexico.

MEXICO. Oaxaca: A. Saynes et al. 2657 (IEB, MEXU, MO); J.F. Castrejón et al. 1094 (MEXU, MO); ibid., M. Elorsa 2485 (IEB, MEXU); Pochutla, A. Nava Zafra et al. 780 (MEXU).

Note.

Apparently very similar to Ipomoea bombycina , differing in the smooth, terete hypocotyl, sepals 10-15 mm and the corolla 3.5-4 cm long with a pale green and purple limb. The two species may intergrade but neither are very well-known.