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Ipomoea alba

 
Ipomoea Alba

 
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Ipomoea alba
 
 
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Ipomoea alba, sometimes called the moonflower (but not to be confused with the other species also called moonflower
Moonflower

Moonflower may refer to:...
) or moon vine, is a species of night-blooming morning-glory
Ipomoea

The genus Ipomoea is the largest in the family Convolvulaceae, with over 500 species. Most of these are called "morning glory", but this can refer to related genera also....
, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the New World
New World

The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and Australasia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia, and Africa ....
, from northern Argentina
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
 north to Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
 and Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
.

It is a perennial
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
 herbaceous
Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaf and stem that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. A herbaceous plant may be Annual plant, Biennial plant or Perennial plant....
 liana
Liana

The liana is any of various long-stemmed, usually woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in order to get access to well-lit areas of the forest....
 growing to a height of 5-30 m tall with twining stems. The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are entire or three-lobed, 5-15 cm long, with a 5-20 cm long stem.






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Encyclopedia


Ipomoea alba, sometimes called the moonflower (but not to be confused with the other species also called moonflower
Moonflower

Moonflower may refer to:...
) or moon vine, is a species of night-blooming morning-glory
Ipomoea

The genus Ipomoea is the largest in the family Convolvulaceae, with over 500 species. Most of these are called "morning glory", but this can refer to related genera also....
, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the New World
New World

The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth, specifically the Americas and Australasia. When the term originated in the late 15th century, the Americas were new to the Europeans, who previously thought of the world as consisting only of Europe, Asia, and Africa ....
, from northern Argentina
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
 north to Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
 and Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
.

It is a perennial
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
 herbaceous
Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaf and stem that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. A herbaceous plant may be Annual plant, Biennial plant or Perennial plant....
 liana
Liana

The liana is any of various long-stemmed, usually woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in order to get access to well-lit areas of the forest....
 growing to a height of 5-30 m tall with twining stems. The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are entire or three-lobed, 5-15 cm long, with a 5-20 cm long stem. The flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are fragrant, white or pink, and large, 8-14 cm diameter. The flowers open quickly in the evening and last through the night, remaining open until touched by the morning sun.

The name Moonflower derives because they bloom in the evening, and are round in shape like a full moon.

Historical use


The ancient Mesoamerican civilizations used the Ipomoea alba morning glory to convert the latex
LaTeX

LaTeX is a document markup language and Word processor for the TeX typesetting program. Within the typesetting system, its name is styled as ....
 from the Castilla elastica
Castilla elastica

Castilla elastica, the Panama rubber tree, is a tree native to the tropical areas of Mexico and Central America which was, in pre-Columbian times, the principal source of latex among the Mesoamerican peoples....
 tree and the guayule
Guayule

Parthenium argentatum, commonly known as Guayule , is a shrub in the family Asteraceae, native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, in the states of New Mexico, Texas, Zacatecas, Coahuila, Chihuahua San Luis Potosi, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas....
 plant to produce bouncing rubber
Rubber

Natural rubber is an elastomer?an Elasticity_ hydrocarbon polymer?that was originally derived from a milky colloidal suspension, or latex , found in the sap of some plants....
 balls. The sulfur
Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant Valence non-metal....
 in this morning glory served to vulcanize the rubber, a process pre-dating Charles Goodyear
Charles Goodyear

Charles Goodyear was the first American to vulcanized rubber, a process which he discovered in 1839 and patented on June 15, 1844. Although Goodyear is often credited with its invention, modern evidence has proven that the Mesoamericans used stabilized rubber for balls and other objects as early as 1600 BC....
's discovery by at least 3,000 years.

Cultivation

The species is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant
Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are typically grown in the flower garden or as house plants. Most commonly they are grown for the display of their flowers. Other common ornamental features include leaves, scent, fruit, Plant stem and bark....
 for its flowers. In areas too cold for winter survival, it can be grown as an annual plant
Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
. Propagation is usually by seed. The seed resembles a small brownish nut, and should be nicked with a file and then soaked overnight before planting. In some areas it is an invasive species
Invasive species

Invasive species is a phrase with several definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically....
 which can cause problems in agricultural settings.