Ipomoea alba

B. D., Williams, R. C., Francisco, B., Mewded, C. P., Oppong, C. B., Ayensu, C. W., Masinde, D. B., Chukwuma, A. G., Deresa, D. D., Yeboah, F., Rasaminirina, U. P., Igho-Osagie, M. J., Korir, K. B., Antwi-Boasiako, R. A., Mfodwo, A. S. M., Mutegeki, P., Atta-Adjei, P. K., Akomatey, S., Kumordzie, R., Borosova, C., Tang, A., Asase, G., Ameka & Simões, A. R. G., 2024, Advancing knowledge of West African morning glories: a taxonomic account of Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) from Ghana, Rheedea 34 (5), pp. 397-429 : 404-405

2. Ipomoea alba L., Sp. Pl. 1: 161. 1753. Lectotype (designated by Verdcourt, 1963: 130): INDIA, Rheede , Hort Ind. Malabar 11: 103. t. 50. 1692.

Annual herbs. Stems prostrate or twining, laticiferous, cylindrical, smooth, striate or sometimes muriculate, up to 5 m long, glabrous or rarely pubescent. Leaves simple, entire to 3-lobed, ovate to orbicular in outline, or rarely ovate-oblong, 3–26 × 5–16 cm, apex acute to acuminate or obtuse, mucronate, base cordate, basal auricles rounded to angular, margin entire, covered in small blackish glands on both surfaces of the leaf; petiole glabrous, 2.6–4.5 cm long. Inflorescences axillary; peduncle stout, 1–2.4 cm long; bracteoles small, caducous. Flower mostly solitary: pedicels up to 3 cm long, thickening in fruit. Sepals unequal, subcoriaceous, outer ones elliptic, 0.5–1.2 cm long with a long awn-like appendage, 6–9 mm long, often reflexed, inner ones 0.8–1.5 cm long, shortly acuminate in a triangular apex, c. 2.3 mm long, mucronulate. Corolla hypocrateriform, creamwhite, fragrant, night-flowering; tube 7–15 cm long, cylindrical to slightly angular; limb 11–16 mm wide. Stamens slightly exserted, filaments subequal, 1–3 cm long, not widened at the base, inserted on the upper portion of the corolla tube, glabrous, anthers ovoid to obovoid 4–5 mm long. Ovary obpyriform, glabrous; style glabrous, 10.5–12.2 cm long. Fruits ovoid, 2.5–3 × 1.5–2.3 cm, mucronate,

glabrous, 2-locular, apiculate, dehiscing by 4 valves;

seeds 4, ovoid, 10–13 × 4–9 mm, brown or black,

sparsely pubescent with white hairs.

Vernacular names: bona-nox (Portuguese); giant moonflower (English); ndiami ( Nigeria: Efik);

bayugsns ( Sierra Leone: Kono); bukbui ( Sierra Leone:

Limba); kpokpo-hina, hina: male ( Sierra Leone:

Mende), maanblom (Afrikaans) ( Burkill, 1985).

Flowering & fruiting: Flowers throughout the year,

mostly January and February ( Burkill, 1985).

Habitat: Wild in secondary vegetation, but often cultivated for ornament; found in grassland, on riverbanks, along roadsides and in waste places.

They can grow up to 400 m above sea level.

Distribution: Native to the Americas and introduced in Africa, Asia and Australia ( POWO, 2024).

Volta and Greater Accra regions in Ghana ( Fig. 6) .

Specimens examined: GHANA, Greater Accra region, Legon, Legon hill, waste place, 1.01.1956, C . D. Adams 3649 ( GC); Krepi plains , 24.01.1900, W. H . Johnson 548 ( GC) .

Uses: The leaves of Ipomoea alba can be eaten as food, either cooked or uncooked, and probably as a supplementary famine food; whole herb is used to treat snake bite, the root bark is used as a purgative and the aerial part is used as an antipyretic, hypotensive and emollient; the leaves are used to treat headaches ( Burkill, 1985).

Conservation status: Least Concern ( Canteiro, 2021).