Ipomoea capitellata Choisy var. multilobata Bhellum,  J. Res. Pl. Sci.  1: 060-062. 2012;


/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IMG_20190915_172151-1664x1248.jpg

Ipomoea sp. : 15 posts by 3 authors. 11 images.

Presenting an Ipomoea for deliberation by experts.

It may be a distinct species or a variety/ subspecies of Ipomoea pes-tigridis. It has been reported from J&K to Tamilnadu with name Ipomoea capitellata var. multilobata
Ipomoea capitellata used to be old name for Ipomoea pes-tigridis
Difference is apparent in leaf, it grows less vigorously, and begins to flower at least two weeks after regular I. pes-tigridis, in same habitat. 
There was a report from Bhopal with leaf entire ! 
Collected in Surat, Gujarat, 15 09 2019 5pm afterwards. 
Inflorescence head appears small here, this is first flower of the season …….in total one head bears 9 flowers ……in presented Ipomoea as well as in Ipomoea pes-tigridis.
Flower color is always a variable shade of mauve-pink, in my locality, same as I. pes-tigridis.
Leaves are variably lobed 3 to 7, 5 commonest.


Leaf character becomes apparent right from the 3rd leaf of a seedling. 
Attachments (13)

Ipomoea pes-tigridis var. pes-tigridis ??


Ipomoea pes-tigridis var. pes-tigridis came into existence because Ipomoea pes-tigridis var. africana was created ………now, only I can not find an authentic image of either. Tropicos mentions Ipomoea pes-tigridis var. capitellata reported from Punjab. 

Another name used sometimes is Ipomoea capitellata var. multilobata.
Page 744 of this pdf document gives more details I am attaching.


I tried to upload a document but size came in the way. 

I shall provide scrreenshot and link later. 
Differences are as follows as per Hailler, quoted in the document I mentioned …….
Var. pes- tigridis is Asian species, has white flowers, number of flowers per head is more, leaf lobes 3 to 9 usually 7. 
Var. africana is African variety with pink mauve flowers, less number of flowers per head, leaf lobes upto 11, usually 9. 
Var. capitellata has got mention in Tropicos, no detail. 
Ipomoea capitellata var. multilobata gets covered in one or two papers from India. 


/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/41663779_2154326418158560_3747641720636964864_o.jpg

Presented here is another set of photographs, Shot by Mr. Nitin raje in Sept , 2017 in Bhopal. 

Reproduced by his permission. 
Here we see flowers and inflorescence, hairs similar to I. pes-tigridis, BUT leaf margin is entire !!!!!
10 images.


Thanks, Rakesh ji, for the wonderful presentations.
Should we finally take all this as Ipomoea pes-tigridis var. pes-tigridis ?
Catalogue of Life mentions three other varieties, but all these have distributions in Africa.


Further Catalogue of Life gives Ipomoea pes-tigridis var. africana Hall. fil. as a synonym for Ipomoea pes-tigridis L.


I say no. 
You see, I. pes-tigridis…….. var. pes-tigridis (Asian) and var. africana (African) were coined by Hallier and differences given
were …………
Asian population……..flower white, number of flower per inflorescence more, lobes in leaf 3-9.
African population ……….flowers mauve, number of flowers per inflorescence less, lobes in leaf 7-11. 
…………………
Now , we in India have got white as well as mauve flowers with variable color intensity. This I verified on Indian Flora and other groups, going over old posts. 
………………………….
Shallowly lobed to unlobed leaf is a phenomenon observed all over India, reported from J&K to TN. There was a paper from Jodhpur siting 9 variations, I have not seen details, only abstract available online. Other papers give it a name Ipomoea pes-tigridids var. multilobata, Ipomoea capitellata var. multilobata. 
Names being accepted or being popular and used is entirely a different story


Thanks, …
So we should take it as Ipomoea capitellata Choisy var. multilobata Bhellum in  J. Res. Pl. Sci.  1: 060-062. 2012 as per papers at
DISTRIBUTION OF  IPOMOEA CAPITELLATA CHOISY VAR.  MULTILOBATA BHELLUM (CONVOLVULACEAE) IN SOUTHERN WESTERN GHATS, INDIA (Abstract- Occurrence of  Ipomoea capitellata Choisy var. multilobata Bhellum (Convolvulaceae) A new record for Southern Western Ghats, India. A brief description, photograph and relevant notes are provided. During assessment of the diversity of the climbers in the Southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, a specimens belonging to the genus  Ipomoea were collected. On critical examination of the specimens, it was identified Ipomoea capitellata Choisy var. multilobata Bhellum a varity so far reported only from Jammu and Kashmir State (Bhellum, 2012) in India. Hence, the presence reported forms a new distributional record for Southern Western Ghats in India.)


I second your proposal , Sir !


Reported so far from J&K, Gujarat,  Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, UP, MP.



References:
DISTRIBUTION OF  IPOMOEA CAPITELLATA CHOISY VAR.  MULTILOBATA BHELLUM (CONVOLVULACEAE) IN SOUTHERN WESTERN GHATS, INDIA (Abstract- Occurrence of  Ipomoea capitellata Choisy var. multilobata Bhellum (Convolvulaceae) A new record for Southern Western Ghats, India. A brief description, photograph and relevant notes are provided. During assessment of the diversity of the climbers in the Southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, a specimens belonging to the genus  Ipomoea were collected. On critical examination of the specimens, it was identified Ipomoea capitellata Choisy var. multilobata Bhellum a varity so far reported only from Jammu and Kashmir State (Bhellum, 2012) in India. Hence, the presence reported forms a new distributional record for Southern Western Ghats in India.)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *