Ipomoea ochracea (Lindl.) G. Don

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

412. Ipomoea ochracea (Lindl.) G. Don , Gen. Hist. 4: 270. 1838. (Don 1838: 270)

Convolvulus ochraceus Lindl. , Bot. Reg. 13, t. 1060. 1827. (Lindley 1827a: t. 1060). Type. A cultivated plant grown from seed collected by Murray in Ghana (holotype CGE00014).

Convolvulus trichocalyx Schum. & Thonn. , Beskr. Guin. Pl. 91. 1827 (Schumacher and Thonning 1827: 91). Type. “GUINEA”, Isert s.n. (syntype C) & Thonning 6 (syntypes C, P-JU).

Ipomoea trichocalyx (Schum. & Thonn.) G. Don , Gen. Hist. 4: 275. 1838. (Don 1838: 275).

Ipomoea afra Choisy in A.P. de Candolle , Prodr. 9: 380. 1845. (Choisy 1845: 380). Type. “GUINEA”, specimen sent by Vahl (holotype P-JU).

Ipomoea kentrocarpa A. Rich. , Tent. Fl. Abyss. 2: 70. 1851. (Richard 1851: 70). Type. ETHIOPIA. Near Dochli, Schimper 1420 (isotypes BM, P, S, TUB).

Ipomoea stocksii C.B. Clarke , Fl. Brit. India 4: 207. 1883. (Clarke 1883: 207), nom. illeg., non Ipomoea stocksii C.B. Clarke 1883: 204 . Type. INDIA. Malabar and Concan, Stocks s.n. (lectotype K000830816, designated here).

Ipomoea clarkei Hook. f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 4: 734. 1885. (J.D. Hooker 1885: 734). Type. Based on Ipomoea stocksii C.B. Clarke (1883: 207) .

Ipomoea ophthalmantha Hallier f., Jahrb. Syst. 18: 141.1894 [pub.1893]. (Hallier 1893b: 141). Type. TANZANIA, Tabora District, Boehm 253 (holotype B†).

Ipomoea curtissii House, Ann. New York Acad. Sci, 18: 257. 1908. (House 1908b: 257). Type. CUBA. A.H. Curtiss 562 (holotype NY n.v., isotypes BM, F, GH, L, M, US).

Ipomoea ochracea var. curtissii (House) Stearn , Proc. Linn. Soc. London 170: 145. 1959. (Stearn 1959: 145).

Type.

Based on Convolvulus ochraceus Lindl.

Description.

Twining or trailing perennial herb; stems rather slender, pubescent but usually glabrescent, up to 2 m long. Leaves petiolate, 2-7 × 1.3-6 cm, ovate, acute or shortly acuminate, base cordate with rounded auricles, adaxially glabrous, abaxially paler, glabrous or shortly pubescent on the veins; petioles 0.7-3.2 cm, glabrous or pubescent. Inflorescence of few-flowered, shortly pedunculate axillary cymes; peduncles 1-4 cm, glabrous, pubescent or thinly pilose; bracteoles 1-1.5 mm, lanceolate; secondary peduncles 0.5-1.5 cm; pedicels 7-22 mm, often bent or recurved, glabrous or, less commonly, pubescent or pilose; sepals 5-6 × 2-3 mm, glabrous, often wrinkled/muricate, margins scarious, usually glabrous but occasionally pilose with long white trichomes, slightly unequal, outer ovate, acute to shortly acuminate or mucronate, inner ovate-elliptic obtuse, occasionally mucronate; corolla 3-4 cm long, pale yellow with purple base to the inside of the tube, narrowly funnel-shaped, glabrous, limb often weakly lobed, 3-4 cm diam. Capsules 10 × 7 mm, ovoid, glabrous; seeds 4 × 2.5 mm, minutely tomentellous, sometimes glabrous ( var. curtissii ).

Illustration.

Acevedo-Rodríguez (2005: 174); Bosser and Heine (2000: 55); Figures 190D , 202 .

Distribution.

Generally thought to be an African species introduced to the Caribbean region and locally common in disturbed places, especially in Cuba and Jamaica.

BRAZIL. A.F.M. Glaziou 4890 (MO, S, US).

VENEZUELA. Dist. Fed.: A. Castillo 1471 (MO).

CUBA. A.H. Curtiss 562 (HAC, K), Bro. Alain & López Figuieras 7036 (HAC, HAGB); E.K. Ekman 18200 (BM, S).

JAMAICA. W. Harris 12319 (K, NY, S), W. Robertson 763b, 764b (BM); St Andrew, W. Stearn 39 (BM); St Catherine, W. Stearn 163 (BM).

PUERTO RICO. J.I. Otero 478 (MO); P. Acevedo-Rodríguez s.n. [11/1/1996] (K, US).

LESSER ANTILLES. U.S. Virgin Islands: St Croix: V.W. Steinmann 2252 (BM, IEB); St John: P. Acevedo-Rodríquez 3096 (MO). St. Lucia: R. Graveson 320 (MO).

HAWAII. F.R. Fosberg 57420 (BM, US).

Notes.

Plants from Cuba and Jamaica with glabrous seeds have been treated as var. curtissii (House) Stearn , but this variation has also been reported from the Old World tropics where it is generally unrecognised.

Ipomoea ochracea and I. obscura differ in nothing more than the size of their corolla and this makes the interpretation of Ipomoea clarkei somewhat difficult. The lectotype of I. clarkei has a few corollas in poor condition about 25-28 mm in length, thus essentially intermediate between I. ochracea and I. obscura , although larger than generally in I. obscura . A collection by P.S. Kanitkar from Junnar, Pune at K named I. clarkei is certainly I. ochracea and it seems best to treat I. clarkei as a synonym of I. ochracea . Clarke described the seeds as glabrous but annotated the lectotype with a note that the mature seeds were puberulous. There are no seeds attached to the specimen today.

Figures

Figure 190. Photographs of Ipomoea species. A I. tiliifolia B I. rubens C I. corymbosa D I. ochracea E I. peruviana F I. echinocalyx. A http: // tropical. theferns. info / B John Pink C John Wood D Starr Environmental E Maira Martinez F John Wood.

Figure 202. Ipomoea ochracea. A habit B stem C habit (fruiting) D outer sepal E inner sepal F corolla opened out to show stamens G ovary and style. H seed. Drawn by Rosemary Wise A from Robertson 7646; B-H from Stearn 163.