Ipomoea quamoclit
(cypress vine)

Preferred Common Name

• cypress vine

Other Scientific Names

• Convolvulus pennatifolius Salisb.
• Convolvulus pennatus Desr.
• Convolvulus quamoclit (L.) Spreng.
• Quamoclit pennata (RAF.) DESV.
• Quamoclit pinnata (Des.) Bojer
• Quamoclit vulgaris Choisy

International Common Names

• English: cardinal climber; cypress-vine morning-glory; hummingbird flower; hummingbird vine; morning glory; star glory; star of Bethlehem; sweet Willy
• Spanish: cambustera; campanita roja; clavellina; regadero
• French: cheveux de Venus; liane rouge
• Portuguese: Cardeal; corda-de-viola; corriola; esqueletinho-de-jardim; esqueleto; primavera

Local Common Names

• Australia: Cupid's flower
• Bangladesh: getphul; kamalata; kunjalata; tarulata
• Cuba: cambustera de hojas anchas; cambustera de hojas menudas; cambustera fina; cambutera; gambutera
• Dominican Republic: estrella del son
• El Salvador: clarincito; clavellina; corona
• Guatemala: Clarín; clarincillo
• Lesser Antilles: goutte de sang; herbe à éternuer; liane rouge; lin; regadero; sweet william
• Nicaragua: Fin de amor
• Panama: Cundeamor
• Puerto Rico: bejuco de ciprés; bejuco de coral

EPPO code

• IPOQU (Ipomoea quamoclit)

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Dicotyledonae
•                     Order: Solanales
•                         Family: Convolvulaceae
•                             Genus: Ipomoea
•                                 Species: Ipomoea quamoclit

Ipomoea is a large and complex genus of vines and shrubs within the Convolvulaceae. This family comprises approximately 1,880 species grouped in 55–60 genera (Stevens, 2012). It is nearly cosmopolitan in distribution, but its members are primarily tropical plants (Stefanović et al., 2003). The genus Ipomoea includes about 600 species distributed worldwide, with approximately 500 species occurring in tropical and warm temperate regions of the Americas (Miller et al., 1999). 

The taxonomy and nomenclature of many Ipomoea species is still uncertain.  For instance, the names Ipomoea hederacea, I. indica, I. nil and I. purpurea have caused identification and nomenclatural problems since Linnaeus revised his own treatment of the taxa in 1762. Since then, many botanists have mixed these species, and the nomenclature still remains unclear. Authors have noted that the taxonomic confusion may be due to the morphological plasticity observed when plants grow in wet and dry habitats, and the extensive cultivation as ornamentals (Austin, 1986; Austin and Huáman, 1996).  

Ipomoea quamoclit is listed as an accepted name by World Flora Online (2020).

About 55 species of Ipomoea have been listed as weeds by Holm et al. (1979), and 173 species are included in the Global Compendium of Weeds (Randall, 2017).  Species such as Ipomoea alba, I. batatas, I. cairica, I. carnea subsp. fistulosa, I. hederifolia, I. nil, I. ochracea, I. purpurea, and I. quamoclit are often listed as aggressive invaders worldwide (GRIIS, 2017; DAISIE, 2017; PIER, 2018; USDA-NRCS, 2018).  The hybrid between I. quamoclit and I. hederifolia known as Ipomoea × multifida is also popular in the horticultural trade.

A slender vine not exceeding a stem diameter of 2 cm. Leaves compound with 16-24 leaflets, basal pair of leaflets bilobed. Leaflet stalks absent. 2. Leaves simple and deeply lobed (pinnatisect) almost to the midrib, each leaf about 2.5-4.5 ×2.5-4 cm, petioles about 1-4 cm long. Lobes 8-15 per leaf. Very small finely divided leaves usually on the twig at the base of each petiole. Flowers about 1.7-3.5 cm diameter. Peduncles about 4-8 cm long. Pedicels about 1.4-2 cm long. Sepals about 5-6 mm long, each sepal ending in a mucronate tip which is attached below the apex of the sepal. Inner surface clothed in small flat glands. Corolla tube about 2.5-3.5 cm long. Corolla lobes about 6-8 mm long, mucronate at the apex. Staminal filaments clothed in hairs towards the base. Style about 25-30 mm long. Stigma about 1 mm diameter, verrucose, obscurely 2-lobed. Fruits ovoid, 5-7 × 5 mm, sepals persistent at the base. Seeds usually 3 or 4 per fruit. Seeds elongate, about 5-6 × 2-3 mm, surface clothed in hairs and warty projections particularly around the hilum. Cotyledons folded with endosperm between the folds. Radicle straight, about 2 mm long (Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, 2010).

Ipomoea quamoclit was apparently introduced to the Old World in early post-Colombian times (Flora of Panama, 2017), and has since been widely introduced there. In Australia, it was apparently introduced from India, but the date of introduction is unknown (Queensland Government, 2018).

Soil drainage

• free

Soil reaction

• neutral

Soil texture

• light
• medium

Ipomoea quamoclit spreads by seeds, which can be dispersed by rain, waterways, gravity, and human activity (Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, 2010).  It has been widely introduced around the world as an ornamental plant.

Ipomoea quamoclit behaves as an agricultural weed with negative impacts on peanut, cotton, and citrus plantations (Vibrans, 2011; Anon., 2016).

Ipomoea quamoclit is an aggressive vine that has escaped from cultivation. In Australia, it has smothered and outcompeted native trees and shrubs and is becoming increasingly problematic, primarily in the Northern Territory where it has covered grass swards; in Queensland, it is invading mangroves, rainforest and eucalypt forest (Csurhes and Edwards, 1998; Queensland Government, 2018).  In the United States it is listed as a noxious weed and often invades cultivated fields, secondary forests, roadsides and disturbed areas (USDA-NRCS, 2018). In Brazil, it is listed as a “harmful weed” (Anon., 2016).

• Proved invasive outside its native range
• Has a broad native range
• Highly adaptable to different environments
• Is a habitat generalist
• Tolerates, or benefits from, cultivation, browsing pressure, mutilation, fire etc
• Pioneering in disturbed areas
• Benefits from human association (i.e. it is a human commensal)
• Fast growing

• Ecosystem change/ habitat alteration
• Host damage
• Modification of successional patterns
• Negatively impacts agriculture
• Reduced native biodiversity

• Competition - monopolizing resources
• Competition - shading
• Competition - smothering
• Rapid growth

• Highly likely to be transported internationally deliberately

Ipomoea quamoclit is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant for its attractive foliage and bright flowers. (USDA-NRCS, 2018; USDA-ARS, 2018; Queensland Government, 2018). The hybrid between I. quamoclit and I. hederifolia known as Ipomoea × multifida is also popular in the horticultural trade. I. quamoclit has traditional medicinal uses, and there has been some research on its possible medicinal effects (Ho et al., 2015)