White Morning-glory
Ipomoea lacunosa
Found in riverbanks, marshes, swamps, fields, roadsides, disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Bloom
- July to December
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 87 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Habitats
Streams, rivers and their banks; freshwater marshes; swamps; roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Who uses this plant?
45CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Ipomoea
- Agrius cingulataPink-Spotted Hawkmoth, Sweet Potatoe Caterpillar
- Agrotis gladiariaSwordsman Dart, Clay-Backed Cut-Worm
- Agrotis ipsilonIpsilon Dart, Black Cutworm, Greasy Cutworm
- Amyna strictaEight-Spot Moth
- Anomis flavaTropical Anomis Moth
- Autographa precationisCommon Looper Moth
- Chloridea virescensTobacco Budworm Moth
- Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
- Elaphria chalcedoniaChalcedony Midget
- Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
Show all 45
- Emmelina monodactylaMorning-Glory Plume Moth
- Euptoieta claudiaVariegated Fritillary, (?)Gulf Fritillary
- Euxoa messoriaReaper Dart, Darksided Cutworm, Dark-Sided Cutworm
- Euzophera semifuneralisAmerican Plum Borer
- Feltia herilisMaster's Dart
- Feltia jaculiferaDingy Cutworm
- Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
- Hahncappsia mancalisCommon Hahncappsia
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Herpetogramma fluctuosalisGreater Sweetpotato Webworm
- Herpetogramma thestealisZigzag Herpetogramma, Subtle-Feathered Grass Moth
- Hyles lineataWhite-Lined Sphinx
- Hypena scabraGreen Cloverworm Bomolocha, Black Snout
- Lascoria ambigualisAmbiguous Moth, Ambiguous Litter Moth
- Marimatha nigrofimbriaBlack-Bordered Lemon
- Megalopyge opercularisSouthern Flannel Moth, Puss Caterpillar
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Ostrinia obumbratalisSmartweed Borer
- Papilio troilusSpicebush Swallowtail
- Proxenus mirandaMiranda Moth, Glistening Rustic
- Schizura ipomaeaeMorning-Glory Prominent, Checkered-Fringe Prominent
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Spodoptera dolichosSweetpotato Armyworm, Dolichos Armyworm, Large Cotton Armyworm
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Spoladea recurvalisHawaiian Beet Webworm
- Spragueia damaSouthern Spragueia
- Udea rubigalisCelery Leaftier
- Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
- Cosmopterix astrapias
- Cosmopterix clemensella
- Cosmopterix gemmiferella
- Hahncappsia neobliteralis
17BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Ipomoea
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
3Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Ipomoea
- Melitoma grisella
- Melitoma marginella
- Melitoma taurea
2BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Ipomoea
- Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
- Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Convolvulaceae
- Flower color
- White
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “July to December” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Annual” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “white” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Small White Morning Glory; White Morning glory
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5? |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Northern Tier (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications