Woody, twining liana with annual vegetative growth. Height to ~8'(9'(-10') with ~12' horizontal spread (growth halted following decline in nighttime temperatures). Leaves strongly 3-lobed, pubescent. Flowers open between ~5:30-7:30(-8)am; corolla blue(-purple); anthers strongly blocking the stigma. Calyx hirsute basally with long lobes and strongly recurved apices, becoming more prominent as seeds mature. Seeds vary in sizes ((3-)4-6(-8)mm long x (2-)3(-4)mm wide) and morph based on various divisions of a spherical embryonic body, with the dominant type being similar to that of a slice of hesperidium. Flowers responding to water stress produced a notably thinner calyx and one single seed, often ovoid(-spherical) with a longitudinal groove along the sides (hilum below). A third type is a two seeded variety with shape similar to I. x leucantha. Seeds are black with a subtle brown mottling that becomes much more apparent when saturated. Seed coat with short appressed hairs concentrated in the hilum.
1
Volunteer in dirt plot turned garden (wild patch nearby ~1/4 mi sw (well established); Cultivated or Captive