Littlebell is a fast-growing annual morning glory vine from tropical America with small pink to pale purple funnel-shaped flowers, usually darker in the center. In the US it is an introduced weed of warm regions, and Arizona and Florida list it as a . It is also called threelobe morning-glory.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A twining annual vine with stems up to about 10 ft (3 m) long. Cut stems ooze a milky sap.
- Leaves
- Alternate leaves 0.8–5 in (2–12 cm) long, ranging from heart-shaped to deeply three- or five-lobed.
- Flowers
- Funnel-shaped flowers 0.5–1 in (1.2–2.5 cm) across, white to pink to pale purple, often with a darker center, clustered in the leaf axils. The five sepals are fringed with hairs.
- Flowering time
- Summer
- Fruit
- Round, hairy brown capsules holding 2–4 dark brown seeds.
Look-alikes
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Cultivated fields
- Roadsides
- Hedgerows
- Sandy waste places
- Range
- Native from Mexico and the Caribbean through Central America to northern South America. In the US it is an introduced plant, recorded as in Florida and California; in Florida it has historically been found mostly in the more tropical parts of the state.
- Preferred conditions
- Handles full sun to deep shade in warm climates, including grassy swamp edges.
Growing it
- Propagation
- Spreads by seed.
Name and classification
- About the name
- In Florida, some county records of littlebell may actually be a close relative, Ipomoea × leucantha.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
- Status
- Listed as a noxious weed in Arizona and Florida, and included on South Carolina's plant pest list.
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