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Ipomoea lacunosa; photograph (c) 岸本年郎, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) 岸本年郎, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2026-09-21

Ipomoea lacunosa L.

White morning-glory; Whitestar; Pitted morning glory; Whitestar Potato

Convolvulaceae · Illinois, Iowa +23

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Ipomoea lacunosa, photograph (c) Tom Field, some rights reserved (CC BY)Ipomoea lacunosa, photograph (c) Jessica, some rights reserved (CC BY)Ipomoea lacunosa, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedIpomoea lacunosa, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedIpomoea lacunosa, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedIpomoea lacunosa, photograph (c) northerly, some rights reserved (CC BY) 61 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
-9.3°C
Record low -25.0 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
31°C
Jul and Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,189mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
14–40DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Rain spread: 70% of the median year's rain takes 8 months, so no short rainy season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Ipomoea lacunosa, the whitestar, white morning-glory or pitted morning-glory, is a species that belongs to the genus Ipomoea. In this genus most members are commonly referred to as "morning glories". The name for the genus, Ipomoea, has roots in the Greek words ips and homoios, which translates to worm-like. This is a reference to the plant's vine-like growth. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Ipomoea lacunosa", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Ipomoea

Ipomoea is the largest genus in the plant family Convolvulaceae, with over 600 species. It is a large and diverse group, with common names including morning glory, water Convolvulus or water spinach, sweet potato, bindweed, moonflower, etc. The genus occurs throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, and comprises annual and perennial herbaceous plants, lianas, shrubs, and small trees; most of the species are twining climbing plants.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Ipomoea", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads no short rainy season: 70% of the median year's rain (827 mm of 1,178 mm) takes 8 months, March to October. Mean temperature moves 22.1 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: September to April.

Rain

1,178 mm in the median year at the habitat, 827 mm of it March to October. Wettest month May at 120 mm, driest month February at 81 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 995 mm to 1,422 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,189 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,178 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 14 to 40 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 12, the highest 90th-percentile month 44).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is -9.3 °C, the absolute minimum -25.0 °C, 3,350 frost nights in 44 years, 76.1 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 37.1 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 0.3 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range -4.0 °C to 4.1 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 31.3 °C in July (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: -9.3 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 55 to 59% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +3 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Ipomoea lacunosa through the yearWarmest months July and August, mean daily high 31 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low 0.3 °C; 1,178 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.-40°-20°0°20°40°frost37.1° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-25.0° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0255075100125150mm rainDLI 14–40RH 55–59%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 1039 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C9 / 4–1412 / 7–1717 / 12–2121 / 18–2526 / 23–2930 / 27–3231 / 29–3431 / 28–3427 / 25–3122 / 19–2516 / 13–2010 / 6–14
Night °C0 / -4–42 / -3–66 / 2–1010 / 7–1415 / 13–1920 / 18–2222 / 20–2422 / 20–2518 / 16–2112 / 10–157 / 4–102 / -2–5
Rain mm85 / 51–12981 / 58–137105 / 81–13398 / 80–123120 / 95–145109 / 98–131111 / 63–13394 / 56–12297 / 76–11693 / 79–12392 / 73–12593 / 63–140
DLI16 / 14–1821 / 20–2328 / 26–2935 / 33–3638 / 37–3940 / 39–4240 / 38–4436 / 34–4030 / 28–3324 / 22–2617 / 15–1914 / 12–17
RH %58 / 56–5957 / 55–5856 / 55–5755 / 54–5758 / 56–6059 / 57–6059 / 55–6159 / 54–6158 / 55–6057 / 56–5858 / 57–5958 / 57–60
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 1039 grid cells holding the 1276 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1078:2017 (36.075, -79.125). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -25.0 °C, 1st-percentile night -9.3 °C, 99th-percentile day 37.1 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 1039 distinct grid cells holding 1276 of the 1276 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1078:2017 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 36.00_-79.375, lapse-corrected +3 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 188 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeIllinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, District of Columbia · introduced: Belgium, Germany, Primorye, Palestine, China Southeast, Korea, Kazan-retto, Massachusetts, New York, Jamaica, Venezuela, Colombia · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker33.801, -84.314 · in the densest population, 752 records (50% of those in range)
Kew's description“climbing annual” · “temperate” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 1504 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 1276 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 406 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 1076 km away. 319 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 228 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 1504 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Ipomoea lacunosa, photograph 1did not loadIpomoea lacunosa, photograph 2did not loadIpomoea lacunosa, photograph 3did not loadIpomoea lacunosa, photograph 4did not loadIpomoea lacunosa, photograph 5did not loadIpomoea lacunosa, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Tom Field, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Jessica, some rights reserved (CC BY); author not stated, no rights reserved · CC0 (3); (c) northerly, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Quercus stellata Quercus stellata Post oak Photo: CC BY, Elena OrtizCampsis radicans Campsis radicans Trumpet-creeper Photo: CC BY, Tyler BishopBidens aristosa Bidens aristosa Western tickseed Photo: CC0, author not statedAristida purpurascens Aristida purpurascens Arrowfeather threeawn grass Photo: CC BY, Will McFarlandRotala ramosior Rotala ramosior Lowland toothcup Photo: CC BY, Anne ParkerPlantago virginica Plantago virginica Virginia plantain Photo: CC0, author not stated

Other Ipomoea 106 in the reference

Ipomoea aitonii Convolvulaceae Ipomoea alba Ipomoea alba Moonflower Photo: CC BY, Brandon CorderIpomoea albivenia Ipomoea albivenia Climbing Kapok Photo: CC0, author not statedIpomoea amnicola Ipomoea amnicola Redcenter morning-glory Photo: CC0, author not statedIpomoea anisomeres Ipomoea anisomeres Convolvulaceae Photo: CC BY, Alexis López HernándezIpomoea aquatica Ipomoea aquatica Swamp morning-glory Photo: CC BY, renjus boxIpomoea arborescens Ipomoea arborescens Tree Morning Glory Photo: CC BY-SA, Adrian BojorquezIpomoea asarifolia Ipomoea asarifolia Ginger-leaf morning-glory Photo: CC BY, Marcello Mastroianni Albuquerque AraújoIpomoea bahiensis Ipomoea bahiensis Convolvulaceae Photo: CC BY, Paulo NogueiraIpomoea batatas Ipomoea batatas Sweet potato Photo: CC BY, winterfamilyIpomoea biflora Ipomoea biflora Bellvine Photo: CC BY, 如此甚好Ipomoea bolusiana Ipomoea bolusiana Narrowleaf Morning Glory Photo: CC0, dune_ninja all 107 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Convolvulus lacunosus; Convolvulus micranthus; Convolvulus verrucipes; Ipomoea lacunosa f. lacunosa; Ipomoea triloba f. lacunosa and 3 more. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Convolvulaceae
Described by
L.
Native to
Illinois, Iowa, Kansas +22
Wild records
1504 in range · 406 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 39 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (30 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 2 at a herbarium, 7 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 36.00_-79.375, lapse-corrected +3 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 128 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

Opening your plants…