Taxon: Ipomoea alba L.

Summary

Genus:

Ipomoea

Subgenus:

Quamoclit

Section:

Calonyction

Family:

Convolvulaceae

Tribe:

Ipomoeeae

Nomen number:

20135

Place of publication:

Sp. pl. 1:161. 1753

Typification:

View in Linnean Typification Project

Verified:

04/01/1987 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

12 (6 active, 1 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Homotypic Synonym(s)
Calonyction album (L.) House

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Calonyction aculeatum (L.) House
Convolvulus aculeatus L.
Convolvulus maximus L. f.
Ipomoea bona-nox L.
Ipomoea maxima (L. f.) Sweet
Ipomoea noctiflora Griff.

Images (1 total. Click on image for more.)

Links

Seeds or fruits – Seed ID Workshop image, from Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, Ohio State University

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health
Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Angely, J. A. 1965. Flora analitica do Parana.
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Austin, D. F. & Z. Huáman. 1996. A synopsis of Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) in the Americas. Taxon 45:5.
Babu, C. R. 1977. Herbaceous flora of Dehra Dun.
Backer, C. A. & R. C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Jr. 1963-1968. Flora of Java.
Cabrera, A. L. & E. M. Zardini. 1978. Manual de la flora de los alrededores de Buenos Aires.
Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas
Dassanayake, M. D. & F. R. Fosberg, eds. 1980-. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon.
Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen 1480.
Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
Fosberg, F. R. et al. 1979-1982. Geographical checklist of the Micronesian Dicotyledonae/ Pteridophyta and Gymnospermae.
Gunn, C. R. 1972. Moonflowers, Ipomoea section Calonyction in temperate North America. Brittonia 24:150-168.
Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
Harling, G. & B. Sparre, eds. 1973-. Flora of Ecuador.
Henderson, L. 2001. Alien weeds and invasive plants: a complete guide to declared weeds and invaders in South Africa. Plant Protection Research Institute, Handbook 12
Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953-1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2.
Lazarides, M. & B. Hince. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia
Lejoly, J. & S. Lisowski. 1992. Les genres Merremia et Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) dans la flore d'Afrique Centrale (Zaire, Rwanda, Burundi). Fragm. Florist. Geobot. 37:64.
León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
Li, H. L. et al., eds. 1975-1979. Flora of Taiwan.
Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
Macbride, J. F. et al., eds. 1936-. Flora of Peru Note: 1936-1971; new ser. 1980-
Matthew, K. M. 1983. The flora of the Tamilnadu Carnatic.
Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
Personal Care Products Council. International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Pulle, A. A. et al., eds. 1932-. Flora of Suriname.
Ross, J. 1972. The flora of Natal.
Saldanha, C. J. & D. H. Nicolson. 1976. Flora of Hassan district.
Shreve, F. & I. L. Wiggins. 1964. Vegetation and flora of the Sonoran desert. Note: = Calonyction aculeatum
Spellman, D. L. et al. 1975, 1981. A list of the monocotyledoneae/dicotyledonae of Belize. Rhodora v. 77 & 83.
Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. 1948-. Flora malesiana.
Steyermark, J. A. & O. Huber. 1978. Flora del Avila.
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
Walker, E. 1976. Flora of Okinawa and the southern Ryukyu Islands.
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition). Note: = Calonyction aculeatum
Wunderlin, R. P. 1998. Guide to the vascular plants of Florida

Common names

Language	Name	seq	Citation
English	moonflower	1	Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
Afrikaans	maanblom	2	Henderson, L. 2001. Alien weeds and invasive plants: a complete guide to declared weeds and invaders in South Africa. Plant Protection Research Institute, Handbook 12
German	Mondblüte	2	Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen 1480.
German	weiße Prunkwinde	2	Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen 1480.
Japanese Rōmaji	yakai-sō	2	Walker, E. 1976. Flora of Okinawa and the southern Ryukyu Islands.
Japanese Rōmaji	yoru-gao	2	Walker, E. 1976. Flora of Okinawa and the southern Ryukyu Islands.
Swedish	månvinda	2	Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Transcribed Chinese	yue guang hua	2	Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition). Note: = Calonyction aculeatum

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Baja California Sur		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	San Luis Potosí		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Sinaloa		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Sonora		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Tamaulipas		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Florida
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Campeche		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Chiapas		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Colima		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Guanajuato		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Guerrero		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Hidalgo		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Jalisco		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	México		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Michoacán de Ocampo		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Morelos		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Nayarit		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Oaxaca		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Puebla		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Querétaro		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Quintana Roo		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Tabasco		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Yucatán		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.
1	Native	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Bahamas			Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Cuba			León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Dominican Republic
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Haiti
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Belize
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Costa Rica
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Guatemala
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Honduras
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Nicaragua
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Panama
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	French Guiana
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Guyana
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Suriname
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela
1	Native	Southern America	Southern South America	Argentina
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Bolivia
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Colombia
2	Cultivated					also cult.
4	Naturalized					widely natzd. in tropics

Native
Northern America

SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Florida]
NORTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Baja California Sur, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas]
SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Campeche, Chiapas, Colima, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, México, Michoacán de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Yucatán]

Southern America

CARIBBEAN: Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti
CENTRAL AMERICA: Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama
NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
BRAZIL: Brazil
WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Bolivia, Colombia
SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina

Cultivated (also cult.)
Naturalized (widely natzd. in tropics)

Reference(s)

Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:702.

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Reference
Environmental	ornamental	Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
Environmental	ornamental	Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Weed		Henderson, L. 2001. Alien weeds and invasive plants: a complete guide to declared weeds and invaders in South Africa. Plant Protection Research Institute, Handbook 12

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=20135. Accessed 12 May 2026.