Ipomoea alba L.

 
  • Family : CONVOLVULACEAE
    (Morning-Glory Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : KALADANA FAMILY (कालादाना फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Convolvulaceae
  • Synonym(s) : Ipomoea bona-nox L.
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Ipomoea alba L.
  • Common name : Moonflower, Koali-pehu
  • Vernacular name :
    • Naganamukkorai (Tamil)
    • Nagaramukkatte, Panditivankaya (Telugu)
    • Kunja-lata (Oria)
    • Chandrakanthi, Mandavalli (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Liana
  • Habitat : Tropical moist deciduous forests, also along sea coasts
  • Comments / notes : On hills above 800m, also cultivated
  • Key identification features : Flowers open at night and close at 11 am
  • Flower, Fruit : September-February
  • Distribution :
    • Andhra Pradesh : East Godavari district, Vishakapatnam district
    • Kerala : Kannur district, Wayanad district, Malappuram district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Alappuzha district, Pathanamthitta district, Kollam district
    • Maharashtra : Mumbai-City district, Mumbai Suburban district
    • Odisha : Ganjam district, Koraput district
    • Tamil Nadu : Dindigul district, Coimbatore district
    • Arunachal Pradesh : Kameng
    • Meghalaya : Meghalaya
    • Assam : Assam
    • Nagaland : Nagaland
    • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
    • Punjab : Punjab
    • Mizoram : Mizoram
    • Manipur : Manipur
    • Tripura : Tripura
  • Native : Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Central American Pac, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Florida, French Guiana, Galápagos, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leewar
  • Exotic/Native : Exotic
  • World Distribution : Naturalized in tropics
  • Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
  • Literature :
    • Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4
    • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 2
    • Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
  • Read more :
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2024). India Flora Online. http://indiafloraonline-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Ipomoea alba. Downloaded on 17 May 2025.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)

Habitat

India Distribution

World Distribution

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