390. Ipomoea habeliana Oliv., Icon. Pl. 11: 80, t. 1099. 1871. (Oliver 1871: 80)

Type.

ECUADOR. Galapagos Islands, Hood [ Española] Island, Habel s.n. (holotype K000612879).

Description.

Scrambling liana with white latex, to c. 8 m in height; stems stout, woody, glabrous. Leaves characteristically held erect, petiolate, 6-15 × 1.8-3.5 cm, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, acute and long-mucronate, base broadly cuneate, both surfaces glabrous, abaxially reticulate; petioles 2.2-6.5 cm. Inflorescence of 1-several flowers in axillary compound cymes, peduncles 1-6 cm, stout, occasionally with reflexed spinules; bracteoles not seen; pedicels 8-22 mm long, thickened upwards; sepals unequal, glabrous, outer 1.2-2 × 0.7-0.8 cm, ovate, obtuse, mucronulate, inner 1.6-2.3 cm, oblong-ovate, truncate, margins scarious; corolla opening at night, glabrous, tube cylindrical, 7-9 cm long, c. 0.7 cm wide, greenish, limb 4 cm-6 cm, white, undulate. Capsules 2.2 × 1.4 cm, ellipsoid, beaked, glabrous; seeds 11 × 7 mm, densely pilose on the margin with brownish hairs c. 5 mm long.

Illustration.

Figures 8E, 192.

Distribution.

Endemic to the Galapagos Islands.

ECUADOR. Galapagos Islands: Santa Cruz Island, H.J.F. Schimpf 67 (BM, MO); P.S. Bentley 203 (K, MO); T.W.J. Taylor 90 (K).

Note.

Its nearest relative appears to be Ipomoea violacea, rather than any American species. It is probably pollinated by moths as the white flowers open in the evening.