[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Red Morning Glory: Don't try this at home!



On Sun, 5 Oct 2003, gary wrote:
>
> Ruby-throated hummers - a bunch nectaring on the most Red Morning Glory
> (Ipomea coccinea) blooms this side of all them south Louisiana hummingbird
> gardens. i went ahead and got me some seed, y'all.

Hey y'all,

It may not be coincidence that Gary was abducted by aliens the same day he
collected Red Morning-Glory seeds. Ipomoea coccinea, also known as
Redstar, Scarlet Morning-Glory, and assorted other English names, is
listed by the North Carolina Botanical Garden as a "Plant to Avoid". It's
also listed as an invasive alien in Virginia, and the National Park
Service reports it to be a problem weed in Tennessee. Arizona has legally
prohibited planting it and classifies it as a noxious weed.

http://www.ncbg.unc.edu/plants-to-avoid-SEUS.htm
http://www.dcr.state.va.us/dnh/invlist.pdf
http://www.vnps.org/invasive/complete_list.html
http://plants.usda.gov/cgi_bin/plant_profile.cgi?symbol=IPCO3
http://www.invasive.org/browse/subject.cfm?sub=5760
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/list/i.htm

Yes, hummingbirds like it, but they like an awful lot of things, including
Japanese Honeysuckle. Anybody who absolutely has to have a red-colored
Morning-glory, go instead for Cypress-Vine (I. quamoclit), or for the
quamoclit X coccinea hybrid Cardinal Climber (I. multifida). Barring
global warming, neither of these two species can survive the winter here,
so can only be propagated with direct human assistance. Cypress-vine has
filamentous, feathery leaves, while Cardinal Climber's are deeply lobed,
as opposed to Red Morning-Glory's big heart-shaped leaves.

We have I. multifida in our window box. It brought in what might be our
last hummer of the season, last Monday; have not seen any traffic at
either flower or feeder since...

On a brighter note, got to sneak off to Ellerbe Creek for half an hour
this morning. Entered from Westover Park, the opposite end of the greenway
from Indian Trail Park. Most exciting sighting was a Sharp-shinned Hawk
that looped up into a leafless tree, glared down at me with one of those
if-looks-could-kill kinda stares, and then flew off. Otherwise, mostly
resident species, gorging themselves on the abundant Pokeweed berries
(Brown Thrashers and Catbirds) and Beggar's-ticks seeds (Goldfinches). And
one House Wren that stumbled out of the trailside grass practically at my
feet!

Josh


Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/