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Convolvulaceae
Moonflower
Ipomoea alba
Dreams, the moon, mystery, romance under starlight.
- Family
- Convolvulaceae
- Genus
- Ipomoea
- Native to
- Tropical Americas
- Bloom season
- Summer, Fall
- Type
- tender perennial vine (often grown as annual)
- Height
- 3–6 m climbing
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Well-drained, average fertility
- Water
- Moderate
- Hardiness
- 10–12 (annual elsewhere)
- Lifespan
- Annual in temperate zones
Did you know
- Moonflowers open at dusk in a dramatic time-lapse-worthy unfurling — the bud spirals open over just a minute or two, releasing a powerful sweet fragrance.
- They are pollinated by night-flying hawk moths attracted by the scent and the gleaming white petals visible in moonlight.
- Each flower lasts only one night, closing forever in the morning sun.
- Moonflowers are close relatives of the morning glory and the sweet potato — all in the genus Ipomoea.
- Aztec sculptors used the latex from moonflower vines to vulcanize rubber thousands of years before Charles Goodyear 'invented' the process.