Planting some Garden Onions, Allium cepa

 Garden Onion Allium cea -
Two red onions and a regular onion

During February while browsing through the selection of bulbs, seeds, seedlings and shoots I came across some packets of onion bulbs. They only had the red and brown varieties but since I tend to use red onions in my salads I picked up a bag of Red Baron seed bulbs.Since it was still cold outside and we'd had hail and generally typical winter weather I thought it best not to plant anything outside. Given the limited room in my bedroom I decided that to give the onions a head start I could try planting them in a cell tray and then transplant them later. That way by the time they had some leaves and a nice healthy set of roots I could transplant them into a bigger container and then put them outside on the roof. By then the weather should be more clement.

Garden Onion Allium cepa

The other thing was that I wanted to try out this mycorrhizal fungi preparation which is supposed to help the plants' growth by developing a secondary set of roots. In a nut shell mycorrhizal fungi have a symbiotic relationship with their hosts. In essence it improved the ability of their hosts to extract nutrients from the soil.
The whole topic is quite fascinating so I will be doing at least one post dedicated to discussing these fascinating organisms and their relationship with plants. That is aside from the other posts I have planned on fungi. So keep an eye out for these.

Garden Onion Allium cepa

A few weeks after I planted the bulbs in the seed tray most had sprouted leaves and when I pulled one up to check its roots I was pleased to discover that it had a nice set. I ended up potting that in a small pot all by itself. Then a few weeks later I got some planting troughs and transplanted the rest. I filled two planting troughs with ten (10) each and popped them out onto the roof.

Onions are in the two plastic terracotta pots on the right.

The handful left got distributed into other pots with other plants which will make things interesting considering I did not keep tabs which post they went into other than that they were mainly with other bulbs. I still have some more bulbs left and have been trying to decide if I should plant them too or at least pop them into a cell tray to at least get them started while I figure out what to do with them or where to put them because at the end of the day what am I going to do with thirty plus onions come harvest time?


Genus Name: Allium cepa
Common names: Onion, Garden onion (English);  (Danish);  (Dutch);  (German);  (French);  (Italian);  (Spanish);(Samoan);

Taxonomic hierarchy: 

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae – Green plants

Infrakingdom: Streptophyta – Land plants

Superdivision: Embryophytea – 
Division: Tracheophyta – Vascular plants, tracheophytes

Subdivision: Spermatophytina – Spermatophytes (seed plants)

Infradivision: Angiospermae – Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class: Magnoliopsida – Diocotyledons

Superorder: Lilianae – Monocots, monocotyledons

Order: Asparagales –

Family: Amaryllidaceae – 

Subfamily: Lilioideae – 
Tribe: Amaryllidioeae – 
Genus: Allium – 

Species: Allium cepa

Notes: 

• I am using the taxonomical classification system used by ITIS (Intergrated Taxonomic Information System). I have decided to use this system in order to avoid confusion as well as because it offers a comprehensive hierarchy from kingdom right through to subspecies whereas other sources only go as far as order or  provide the names of some of the higher taxonomical ranks but only indicate "unclassified" rather than providing the rank.
• When and where possible I will endeavour to include alternatives classifications although  I may limit this to occasions where an opportunity arises to discuss the reason for the different classifications.
• Taxonomical data used in this post was retrieved [February 26 2015], from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database, http://www.itis.gov.

References:

Books:

• 
  
•  

Articles:

• Gianinazzi-Pearson, Vivienne "Plant cell responses to Arbuscular Mycorrhzial Fungi: getting to the roots of the symbiosis" in The Plant Cel, Vol 8, 1887-1883, October 1996. American Society of Plant Physiologists. P

PDF

PDF


pdf

On-line sources:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Entry for Allium cepa
• Kew Royal Botanical gardens: Entry for Allium cepa
• United States Department of Agriculture: Entry for
• The Plant List: Entry for 
• University of Tennessee Herbarium Entry for
• Missouri Botanical Garden: Entry for 
•  Thompson & Morgan: How to grow garlic
• NHS: Is garlic and everyday superfood?
• Dave's Garden Entry for 
• Good food: Entry for Garlic
• Wikipedia: Entry for Asparagales
• Wikipedia: Entry for Amaryllidaceae
• Wikipedia: Entry for Allium
• Wikipedia: Entry for Allioidea
• Wikipedia: Entry for Allium ampeloprasum
• Wikipedia: Entry for Elephant garlic
• Wikipedia: Entry for Onion
• Wikipedia: Entry for Garlic
• Wikipedia: Entry for Infra-specific
• Wikipedia: Entry for 
• Wikipedia: Entry for Arbuscular mycorrhiza
• Wikipedia: Entry for Basidiomycota
• Wikipedia: Entry for Ascomycota
• Wikipedia: Entry for Zygomycota
• Wikipedia: Entry for Glomeromycota 
• Wikipedia: Entry for 

http://treesforlife.org.uk/forest/ecology/mycorrhizas/
http://www.thenaturalgardener.co.uk/mycorrhizal_fungi.php

http://www.rootgrow.co.uk/mycorrhizal-fungi.html
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=633


Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/

· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Lilies

I picked this Lily up at a flower store. Unfortunately they did not have any indication as to the name, binomial let alone vernacular. I assume it is a hybrid since it seems that flower store tend to sell hybrids. But I could be wrong.

In any case it was quite striking and had a subtle scent unless you stuck your nose into it (like I did) to really get a lungful. There were three stalks and they each produced about three flowers.

I ended up taking some photos with different coloured backgrounds. The lighting in these might be a bit strange. That is because I took them at night and the bedroom light tends to give photos a weird yellowish tinge but I have a radiant heater which gives of a bright light which in some photos comes out as a orange glow.

Unfortunately although my camera does have a macro function it cannot take super macros. However, I did manage to get some halfway decent close ups in an effort to show the spikey bits at the base of the petals just around the stamens. You can also see the pollen grains on the anthers and some stuck on the stigma.

Latter I took some more photos during the day. This was a bit later and you can see all the pollen dusting the petals. The spikes at the base of the petals is not all that obvious which is a pity because they added to the exotic beauty of the flowers.

This is the best macro my camera could get. Eventually I will graduate to a more advanced camera with changeable lenses and I will get a lens specifically designed for macros. First I need to master the camera I have. So, sorry for not being able to provide photos that are more detailed.

These lilies are now withered although for some reason I expected them to stay green and hopefully produce another batch of flowers. I guess not. In any case I bought a handful of bulbs which are growing. So sometime soon, perhaps in a few months I will start having a blaze of colours, not to mention a profusion of scents. I am looking forward to taking lots of photos to share with everyone.

Genus Name: Lilium

Common names: Lily (English); Lilje (Danish); Lilie (Dutch); Lilien (German); Lys, Lis (French); Giglio (Italian); Lirio (Spanish);(Samoan); 

Taxonomic hierarchy: 

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae – Green plants

Infrakingdom: Streptophyta – Land plants

Superdivision: Embryophytea – 
Division: Tracheophyta – Vascular plants, tracheophytes

Subdivision: Spermatophytina – Spermatophytes (seed plants)

Infradivision: Angiospermae – Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class: Magnoliopsida – Diocotyledons

Superorder: Lilianae – Monocots, monocotyledons

Order: Liliales –

Family: Liliaceae – 

Subfamily: Lilioideae – 
Tribe: Lilieae – 
Genus: Lilium – 

Species: Lilium unknown species

Notes: 

• I am using the taxonomical classification system used by ITIS (Intergrated Taxonomic Information System). I have decided to use this system in order to avoid confusion as well as because it offers a comprehensive hierarchy from kingdom right through to subspecies whereas other sources only go as far as order or  provide the names of some of the higher taxonomical ranks but only indicate "unclassified" rather than providing the rank.
• When and where possible I will endeavour to include alternatives classifications although  I may limit this to occasions where an opportunity arises to discuss the reason for the different classifications.
• Taxonomical data used in this post was retrieved [February 11 2015], from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database, http://www.itis.gov.

References:

Books:

• Jefferson-Brown Michael, HRS Wisley Handbooks: Lilies, Royal Horticultural Society, 2008

On-line sources:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Entry for Lilium
• United States Department of Agriculture: Entry for
• The Plant List: Entry for 
• University of Tennessee Herbarium Entry for
• Missouri Botanical Garden: Entry for 
• 
  
• Dave's Garden Entry for
• Wikipedia: Entry for Lilium
• Wikipedia: Entry for Liliaceae
• Wikipedia: Entry for Liliales
• Wikipedia: Entry for 

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/

· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Saintpaulia - African Violets

African violets, Saintpaulia were perhaps the first plants that I was fascinated with. There is this picture of me at around four or five holding one and beaming ecstatically. Strangely in the past whenever I tried growing them they only lasted a few weeks before dying either from over watering or lack of watering. Due to this I considered it one of the few plants that I could not grow which is weird since they are supposed to be easy to care for. Although I have heard from some people that many people are unable to keep them alive for longer than their flowering period.

So I have been quite delight that my streak of bad luck with African Violets appears to have ended. I bought one (above) several months ago and after it survived several weeks I bought three more. I was hoping to get more colours because I wanted to be able to show the wide range of colours and shapes of these beautiful plants. Here (below) are the four plants that I got.
Since then two have grown significantly. Last week I transplanted those two into bigger pots and have been contemplating transplanting the other two even though their size does not really justify that. I am also going to see if I can propagate some from leaf cuttings, with the intention of doing a post on that since I have not done any propagation posts for a while.

I still hope to be able to get some more colours eventually. However, I may end up simply asking if I can take some photos since my room is kind of running out of space to put plants, and with fussy plants I have come to the conclusion that once I have found a place that a plant likes I should just leave it where it is happy.

Close up of Saintpaulia, showing fine hair on leaf stalks

I also find that if there is the likelihood of others interacting with the plants they tend to die or suffer although this is more due to accidental, unconscious actions and even well meaning acts that are detrimental so depending on where I am living that can limit what I can have and where I can place my plants. For example I have been thinking of putting some of my plants in the living-room/kitchen but am waiting for spring when I will be sure that use of the heaters will have ended since the heaters are under the windows and the only suitable place to place the plants, not to mention being out of the way from people accidentally bumping them or stepping on them if I put them on the floor.

Close up of Saintpaulia flowers and flowerbuds

Among the colours I'm hoping to find are white, pink and some doubles as well as yellow which I was told does not exist although I have seen yellow cultivars advertised on some sites and collections. That appears to be either new and/or rare.

Binomial Name: Saintpaulia

Common names: African Violet (English); Kaaps violtje (Dutch); Violette Africaine, Violette du Cap (French); Usambraveilchen (German); violetta africana (Italian); Violeta africana (Spanish); (Samoan); 

Echte Usambaraveilchen

Taxonomic hierarchy: 

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae – Green plants

Infrakingdom: Streptophyta – Land plants

Superdivision: Embryophytea – 
Division: Tracheophyta – Vascular plants, tracheophytes

Subdivision: Spermatophytina – Spermatophytes (seed plants)

Infradivision: Angiospermae – Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class: Magnoliopsida – Diocotyledons

Superorder: Asteranae – Asterids

Order: Lamiales –

Family: Gesneriaceae – 

Genus: Saintpaulia – 

Species: Saintpaulia inonatha, Saintpaulia rupicola, Saintpaulia brevipilosa

Notes: 

• I am using the taxonomical classification system used by ITIS (Intergrated Taxonomic Information System). I have decided to use this system in order to avoid confusion as well as because it offers a comprehensive hierarchy from kingdom right through to subspecies whereas other sources only go as far as order or  provide the names of some of the higher taxonomical ranks but only indicate "unclassified" rather than providing the rank.
• When and where possible I will endeavour to include alternatives classifications although  I may limit this to occasions where an opportunity arises to discuss the reason for the different classifications.
• Taxonomical data used in this post was retrieved [February 11 2015], from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database, http://www.itis.gov.

References:

Books:

• 
  

On-line sources:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Entry for Saintpaulia
• United States Department of Agriculture: Entry for Saintpaulia
• The Plant List: Entry for Saintpaulia
• University of Tennessee Herbarium Entry for Saintpaulia
• Our House Plants Entry for Saintpaulia
• Texas A & M University: Entry for Saintpaulia
• Missouri Botanical Garden: Entry for Saintpaulia ionatha
• WWW.Gesneriads: Entry for Saintpaulia
• Dave's Garden Entry for Saintpaulia
• Grow African Violets
• Wikipedia: Entry for Saintpaulia
• Wikipedia: Entry for Gesneriaceae
• Wikipedia: Entry for Lamiales
• Wikipedia: Entry for Asterids
• Wikipedia: Entry for Amaranthaceae
• Wikipedia: Entry for Caryophllales

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/

· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Celosia revisited

I did a post on the genus Celosia last year but found some more species and thought it might be a good idea to do a follow up post on these to show the range and variety of the genus.
Here are two Celosia plants I had last year. As you can see from the flower structure they are quite different other than the furriness of the flowers.

Celosia

 The frustrating thing has been trying to identify them because so far all I have been able to find indicates that they are most likely different cultivars of Celosia argentea even though given how different the flowers look you would expect them to be distinct species. In the process of trying to identify them I came across various sources which point out that many so called species are actually synonymous for the same species. So in other words people have accorded different names to plants no doubt based on their difference in appearance where as in fact they are considered to be simply variations of the same species.
It seems that this issue is one still being thrashed out in botanical circles. That makes for an interesting if frustrating situation for those trying to pinpoint information on plants on this genus. I suppose that means I will be doing additional posts as I come across more of this genus and more information as to differentiating the different ones.
I will also keep an eye out and try to score some photos of other varieties and colours.

Celosia

Celosia argentea, Bristol 2014

Celosia argentea, Bristol 2014

Celosias are a genus of flowering plants in the plant family Amaranthaceae which have furry looking flowers. The familial name Amaranthaceae comes from the Greek ἀμάραντος (amarantos), which means "unfading."

Binomial Name: Celosia cristata

Common names: Celosia, Woolflower, Cockscomb, Crested cock’s comb (English); crête de coq (French); Silber-Brandschopf  Vulu (Samoan); Celosiau (Spanish); Mufugu (Swahili), Chi Kuan (Chinese)

Taxonomic hierarchy: 

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae – Green plants

Infrakingdom: Streptophyta – Land plants

Superdivision: Embryophytea – 
Division: Tracheophyta – Vascular plants, tracheophytes

Subdivision: Spermatophytina – Spermatophytes (seed plants)

Infradivision: Angiospermae – Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class: Magnoliopsida – Diocotyledons

Superorder: Caryophyllanae –

Order: Caryophyllales –

Family: Amaranthaceae – Pigweed (English) Amaranthes (French)

Genus: Celosia – 

Species: C. cristata, C. argentea, C. spicata
C. argentea 'spicata', C. argentea 'cristata'

Notes: 

• I am using the taxonomical classification system used by ITIS (Intergrated Taxonomic Information System). I have decided to use this system in order to avoid confusion as well as because it offers a comprehensive hierarchy from kingdom right through to subspecies whereas other sources only go as far as order or  provide the names of some of the higher taxonomical ranks but only indicate "unclassified" rather than providing the rank.
• When and where possible I will endeavour to include alternatives classifications although  I may limit this to occasions where an opportunity arises to discuss the reason for the different classifications.
• Taxonomical data used in this post was retrieved [February 11 2015], from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database, http://www.itis.gov.

References:

Books:

• 
  

On-line sources:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Entry for Celosia 
• United States Department of Agriculture: Entry for Celosia argenta L.
• The Plant List: Entry for Celosia
• University of Tennessee Herbarium Entry for Celosia argentea
• Texas A & M University: Entry for Celosia (Celosia cristata)
• Dave's Garden Entry for Celosia
• Wikipedia: Entry for Celosia argentea
• Wikipedia: Entry for Celosia cristata
• Wikipedia: Entry for Celosia
• Wikipedia: Entry for Amaranthoidea
• Wikipedia: Entry for Amaranthaceae
• Wikipedia: Entry for Caryophllales

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.be/.

My other blogs

· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/

Ipomoea quamoclit, noxious weed or divinely delicate floral gem?

Ipomoea quamoclit, Cypress Vine - Alafua, Samoa, 2013

Back in 2012 I found a strange if exquisitely beautiful plant growing in a raised garden bed at Malifa (Samoa) which had been newly planted with Zepheranthes rosea (Pink Rain Lilies). Normally it would have been pulled up with all the other weeds (i.e. anything other than the Zepheranthes that were supposed to be growing there) but this one was lucky because I was there and when I saw the delicate leaves I decided that not only was I going to spare it such a terrible and ultimately fatal fate but I dug it up and took it with me to Alafua (Samoa) where I was living and transplant it into its own pot.

At first I just entranced by the leaves and determined to have it encase the crude bamboo trellis I had constructed for it. But then lo and behold it flowered and the next thing I had were bright starbursts of bright crimson which were completely beyond my expectation given how it had already won me over with its divinely delicate leaves. That it also had stunningly breath-taking miniature flowers was an unexpected bonus.

In 2013 I published a Mystery Plant post about this exquisitely beautiful creeper with minuscule bright crimson star-shaped flowers and delicate feathery leaves. I stumbled across a picture of it where the scientific name was revealed to be Ipomoea quamoclit.

Interestingly enough it belongs to the Ipomoea genus of which I have grown and come across quite a few species. I suppose I should have known if anything by the shape of the flower. I suppose I was distracted by its size not to mention far too enraptured by its captivating beauty to see any similarities.

Close up of a leaf of Ipomoea quamoclit, Cypress Vine - Alafua, Samoa, 2013

Ipomoea belongs to the plant family Convolvulaceaeaceae , also known as the Morning-glory Family whose members include a number of creeper that share the common names of Morning-glory or moon flower.
 

Emerging flower buds and developing seed-pods of Ipomoea quamoclit, Cypress Vine - Alafua, Samoa, 2013

Given the striking combination of this vine’s delicate leaf structure and brilliant red flowers, it should come as no surprise that it is a popular plant. According to Dave’s Garden[1], Ipomoea quamoclit is found in also found in pink, white and near white as well as red.

However in some places it is considered a noxious or invasive weed. It appears on the State noxious weed list for 46 states in the USA[2], although at the same time, several other sources hold that it is “not considered too aggressive and does not seem to crowd out native plants”[3] (REF Missouri BG). The plant is native to Mexico and the Tropical Americas[4]

Propagating it is relatively easy. The seeds are small and it self-sows easily (which might account for it being considered invasive). If you want to have seeds you should let the seed heads dry on the plant and collect them once the seed-pod is completely dry. You need to do this carefully because sometimes the seed head crumbles as you pick it and the seeds will fall out.

I suppose you could plant the seeds and transplant the seedlings later. I dug up and transplanted several seedling from several locations where they were not wanted including on large one that had decided to grow in the greenhouse where we were experimenting with assorted Heirloom tomatoes grafted onto Maxifort rootstock. That particular plant was at least 50 cm long and I planted it against the chain-link fence with visions of that dreary looking fence covered in delicate leaves and miniature star-burst of crimson. Unfortunately someone decided to do some mowing with the whipper-snapper and moved that and a couple other seedlings I had planted just after they had recovered from their transplanting and were showing promise.

Some sources indicate that seeds take 4 days to sprout and flowers within 30 days. (Floridata). Others (REF Fine Gardening) recommend that chipping the seeds and soaking for 24 hours. However I found they germinate easily although I suppose that the only way to resolve the necessity or otherwise of chipping versus not chipping would be to run some experiments and then see the germination ratio. If I get the opportunity to I will do that. Unfortunately my Hummingbird vines are in Samoa so unless I can find some here in the United Kingdom I doubt that I will be able to set up such an experiment any time soon.

With regards to the germination time I’m not sure how long the seeds take to sprout because I was not really paying attention to that but they did seem to sprout reasonably easily and fast and then grow relatively quickly which was a delight. I would say that given the number of flowers and seeds produced and the speed with which they grow, flower and produce seeds worrying about fiddly things like chipping the seeds are a bit unnecessary.

The one thing you do need a support structure like a trellis of some sort for the plants to grow on. I constructed a very crude one by splitting some bamboo canes into 2 cm thick strips and bending them into arches whose ends I stuck down into the soil of the pot. I then tied the centres together to give it a bit more stability.

Ipomoea quamoclit, Cypress Vine - Alafua, Samoa, 2013

Like I said it was a very crude frame but given the limited resources I had at the time and the speed with which the plant grew I wanted it serviceable as soon as possible. Another option which I could have tried would have been to grow it against a chain link fence.

Ipomoea , Unidentified species - Alafua, Samoa, 2013

Bruce (Pulusi) One of our neighbours at Alafua did that with a different variety of Iopmoea which has bigger and less delicate leaves and pale lavender flowers which he has growing on chicken wire fencing with poumuli fence posts. Probably not as elegant a set up as some people might prefer but with it all clothed in a rippling cloth of emerald leaves and a generous scattering of lavender flowers it looks much better than a bare fence and also offers a perfect privacy screen while letting cool breezes to pass through.

Ipomoea , Unidentified species - Alafua, Samoa, 2013

 As you can see, Bruce's Ipomoea has a quite different leafe structure which while not as intricate or delicate as Ipomoea quamoclit's is still very attractive.

 An added bonus to the beautiful leaves and flowers of both plants is that they also attract butterflies, bees and honey-eaters. However, given that they belong to the Convoluaceae or Morning-glory family all parts of the plant are poisonous so keep pets and little humans who may have a tendency to nibble on things well away from them.

WARNING: the plants are poisonous.

References:

On-line sources:

Intergrated Taxonomic Information System Entry for Ipomoea quamoclit

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Entry for Ipomoea quamoclit

Missouri Botanical Garden Entry for Ipomoeaquamoclit

Floridata.com Entry for Ipomoea quamoclit

Dave’s Garden Entry for Iopmoea quamoclit

Fine Gardening dot com Entry for Iopmoeaquamoclit

University of Tennessee Herbarium

USF Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants

Wikipedia Entry for Convolvulaceae

Wikipedia Entry for Solanales

Wikipedia Entry for Morning glory

Wikipedia Entry for Iopmoea

 Wikipedia Entry for Ipomoea nil(Blue)

---

[1] Dave’s Garden: Entry for Ipomoea quamoclit at http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/93/

[2] USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Entry for Ipomoea quamoclit at http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=IPQU

[3] Missouri Botanical Garden Entry for Ipomoea quamoclit at http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b912

[4] Floridata.com Entry for Ipomoea quamoclit at http://www.floridata.com/ref/i/ipom_qua.cfm

Scientific Name: Ipomoea quamoclit

Common names: Cypress vine, Cypressvine morning glory, Cardinal Creeper, Cardinal vine, Star glory, Hummingbird vine, Indian Pink, Cupid's flower (English) ; name (French); kardinaalswinde (Dutch); Name (German); Name (Italian); Name (Spanish); Name  (Portuguese); Tarulata, Kamalata, Kunjalata, Getphul (Bengali)

Taxonomic hierarchy: 

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae – Green plants

Infrakingdom: Streptophyta – Land plants

Division: Tracheophyta – Vascular plants

Subdivision: Spermatophytina – Spermatophytes (seed plants)

Infradivision: Angiospermae – Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class: Eudicota –

Superorder: Asterids –

Order: Solanales –

Family: Convolvulaceaeaceae –

Genus: Ipomoea – 

Species: Ipomoea quamoclit  –

Notes: 

• I am using the taxonomical classification system used by ITIS (Intergrated Taxonomic Information System). I have decided to use this system in order to avoid confusion as well as because it offers a comprehensive hierarchy from kingdom right through to subspecies whereas other sources only go as far as order or  provide the names of some of the higher taxonomical ranks but only indicate "unclassified" rather than providing the rank.
• When and where possible I will endeavour to include alternatives classifications although  I may limit this to occasions where an opportunity arises to discuss the reason for the different classifications.
• Taxonomical data used in this post was retrieved [September 9th 2014], from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database, http://www.itis.gov.

References:


On-line sources:

• Royal Horticultural Society: Entry for
• Official Website of the: 
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database: Entry for 
• Wikipedia: Entry for
• Wikipedia: Entry for 
• Wikipedia: Entry for
• Medicinal Plants of Bangladesh: Entry for Ipomoea quamoclit

Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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· Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening, conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
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