| Roots: A fibrous root system with a small taproot.
Identifying Characteristics: The deeply indented cotyledons, heart-shaped leaves that taper to a point, and the relatively small white flowers are all characteristics that help in the identification of pitted morningglory. When in the cotyledon stage, pitted morningglory can be easily confused with sharppod morningglory, Cotton Morningglory (Ipomoea trichocarpa var. torreyana), or Palmleaf Morningglory (Ipomoea wrightii), which all also have deeply indented cotyledons. Therefore, first true leaves and/or subsequent leaves will often be required to differentiate between these morningglory species. In Virginia, however, the only species that are typically encountered are ivyleaf, entireleaf, tall, pitted, red, and bigroot morningglories. Pitted morningglory is also similar to Tall Morningglory (Ipomoea purpurea) but lacks the appressed hairs on the leaves and has leaves that taper to much more of a narrow tip. |