Ipomoea inaccessa

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

85. Ipomoea inaccessa J.R.I. Wood & Scotland, Kew Bull. 73 (57): 2. 2018. (Wood et al. 2018: 2)

Type.

BOLIVIA. Caranavi, Serrania de Bellavista, west side above Carrasco, J.R.I. Wood & S.G. Beck 28539 (holotype LPB, isotypes K, OXF, USZ).

Description.

Liana, 15-20 m high, the flowers covering the tops of trees; stems when young green, minutely puberulous, weakly angled; when mature woody, grey, somewhat muricate; rootstock (juvenile) tuberous. Leaves petiolate, 5.5-14 × 3-8 cm, ovate, cordate, acuminate, both surfaces, minutely and densely puberulent, abaxially paler with rather prominent, raised veins; petioles 2.5-6 cm, minutely puberulent. Inflorescence of (1-)2-4(-7)-flowered, pedunculate, axillary cymes; peduncles 2.5-11 cm, minutely puberulent; bracteoles at base of cyme resembling small leaves, upwards caducous and not seen; secondary peduncles 0.5-4 cm; pedicels 1.5-3.5 cm, minutely puberulent; sepals slightly unequal, somewhat convex, outer 13-16 × 10 mm, inner 18-20 × 15-18 mm, elliptic to subovate, rounded, rigid, glabrous, pale green with scarious margins; corolla 9-9.5 cm long, funnel-shaped, white with pale pink throat or pure white, glabrous; limb unlobed, c. 6 cm wide; filaments unequal, 15-24 mm long, anthers 10 mm long; style 3 cm long; stigma biglobose. Capsules subglobose, 18 × 15 mm, glabrous; seeds 8 × 4 mm, pilose on the margins with hairs up to 12 mm long.

Illustration.

Figure 53 .

Distribution.

Endemic to moist hill forest with frequent cloud 1400-1500 m on the west side of the Serrania de Bellavista.

BOLIVIA. La Paz: Caranavi, T. Feuerer & N. Höhne 4662 (LPB); S.G. Beck 17205 (LPB, K, SP).

Note.

A very vigorous liana reaching heights unattained by most species of Ipomoea . Herbarium specimens are most likely to be confused with Ipomoea philomega but that species has smaller, deep pink corollas, 5-6 cm in length and, usually, glabrous leaves and distinctive reddish sepals (Figure 167A ). Ipomoea inaccessa has a larger corolla about 9 cm long, which is white or white with a pale pink throat. The leaves are uniformly densely puberulent on both surfaces and the sepals are pale green. The flower colour and sepal shape suggest it is related to I. reticulata O'Donell and I. saopaulista O'Donell and this is confirmed by molecular sequence data using ITS. However, the sepals (13-20 mm long) and corolla (9-9.5 mm long) are much larger.

Figures

Figure 53. Ipomoea inaccessa. A habit B adaxial surface of leaf C abaxial leaf surface D bud E sepals F corolla opened out to show stamens and style G capsule H seed. Drawn by Eliana Calzadilla A-C from Wood & Beck 28539; D-F from Wood & Beck 28543; G, H from Feuerer & Hoehne 4662.

Figure 167. Photographs of Ipomoea species. A I. philomega B I. cairica C I. pandurata D I. acanthocarpa E I. aquatica. A http: // faunaandfloraofvietnam. blogspot. com B John Wood C Steve Turner D Maira Martinez E Wikipedia Commons.