Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants - Online edition
Ipomoea mauritiana Jacq.
Jacquin, N.J. von (1791) Collectanea 4: 216. Type: Illustration ?.
Palmate morning glory
A slender vine not exceeding a stem diameter of 2 cm.
Leaf blades deeply 5-7-lobed, about 6-18 x 8-22 cm. Each lobe is complete with a midrib and lateral veins which form loops inside the blade margin. Petioles about 2-9 cm long.
Inflorescence about 15-18 cm long. Sepals about 8-10 mm long. Corolla trumpet-shaped, about 35-50 x 70-80 mm. Sepals about 10 x 5-7 mm. Staminal filaments attached to the corolla tube about 5 mm from the base, Filaments about 12 mm long clothed in hairs on the basal section. Anthers about 4 mm long. Ovary about 1-3 mm long, seated on a fleshy disk about 0.5-0.75 mm high. Style about 25-26 mm long. Stigma globular, about 2 mm diam, Ovules 2 per locule.
Fruits about 9-14 x 10-11 mm, calyx lobes persistent at the base. Seeds slightly flattened, about 8 x 6 mm, densely clothed in brown hairs 6-8 mm long on each side. Cotyledons folded many times with endosperm intruding into the gaps.
Cotyledons bilobed, each cotyledon about 2.5-3.5 x 1.5-2.5 cm, petioles about 2.5-3 cm long. Midrib forked and not reaching the end, i.e. the notch in the cotyledon. First leaf triangular, second leaf three-lobed. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade palmately lobed, usually 5-lobed, petiole about 6-7 cm long or about as long as the leaf blade. Petiole deeply channelled on the upper surface. Exudate milky but somewhat watery. Stems twining. Taproot thick, carrot-like (Daucus carota). Seed germination time 31 days.