THE HETERODOX
MORNING-GLORY

The several morning-glory species introduced in this Newsletter so far represent just a small sample of the Morning-Glory Family members found in this area. The Flora of Quintana Roo, Quintana Roo being the state to the east, lists 34 species in the family. One of the most unusual, common along roads here, is shown below:

With its broad throat and deeply incised leaves it hardly looks like a morning-glory at all. However, it does possess all the technical features needed to belong to the family: Twining stem; corolla shallowly lobed instead of divided into separate petals; corolla basically funnel-shaped; corolla twisted in the bud; five stamens inserted deep in the corolla tube; ovary superior, etc.

It's IPOMOEA HETERODOXA, which I'm calling the Heterodox Morning-Glory because I can't find any other name. Its heterodoxy lies in those deeply cleft leaves and wide-throated corolla.