Birding Travels
In North America

Crestrib Morning Glory - Ipomoea costellata
South of Iron Creek Campground Black Range, NM, USA
August 12, 2016

On August 12, 2016, we were hiking south of Iron Creek Campground in the Black Range of New Mexico, USA when, on a ridge at about 7,000 feet we found the Ipomoea costellata, Crestrib Morning-Glory, that is pictured here.  It is also known as the Crested Morning Glory, and Trompillo in Spanish.  The flower is rather small and quite dainty.

This is another of the species of the southwestern United States.  On the BONAP map to the right light green means that the species is native to, and not rare within, the county indicated.   The pink color indicates that the authorities consider this species to be a noxious weed, which shows how screwed up the world is.  The species is found in most of Mexico.

A complete description of this species can be found at the SEINet (Arizona and New Mexico Chapter) site.  Torrey performed the first official description of the species.

The specimen shown below was collected by Edgar Mearns on August 14, 1892 as part of his work for the International Boundary Commission of the United States and Mexico (San Bernardino Ranch was in Cochise county Arizona).