PLANT: Annual in AZ or biennial, 25-100 cm tall, simple to branched; stems glabrous to sparsely short pubescent.

LEAVES: glabrous to sparsely short pilose, deeply lobed.

INFLORESCENCE: diffuse, with 1-3, subsessile to long pedicelled flowers at tips of branches.

FLOWER: calyx 5-11 mm long, short glandular pubescent, the lobes lanceolate to ovate, acuminate; corolla white to bluish, tube 30-50 mm long, the throat 2-3 mm wide, the lobes ovate, rounded to acuminate; stamens inserted on the tube; filaments unequal; anthers included to exserted; stigma slightly exceeding the anthers.

CAPSULE: 7-15 mm long; seeds 8-15 per locule. 2n=14.

NOTES: 3 subspp.; UT to SD, s to TX and n Mex.

REFERENCES: Dieter H. Wilken and J. Mark Porter, 2005, Vascular Plants of Arizona: Polemoniaceae. CANOTIA 1: 1-37.

Duration: Annual

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Annual or biennial herbs, 25-100 cm tall; stems simple to branched, glabrous to sparsely short-pubescent.

Leaves: Alternate along the stems; blades deeply pinnately lobed, the lobes linear; surfaces glabrous to sparsely short pilose.

Flowers: White to light blue and showy, in loose clusters of 1-3 pedicelled flowers at tips of most branches; calyx consisting of 5 narrow, pointed, glandular-pubescent sepals, 5-11 mm long, connected to each other by papery membranes; corolla rotate to salverform, 3-5 cm long, much longer than the sepals, white to bluish, the throat 2-3 mm wide, the lobes ovate, 1 cm long, with rounded or acuminate tips; stamens included within the corolla or slightly exserted beyond corolla throat.

Fruits: Capsules ovoid, 7-15 mm long; containing numerous seeds.

Ecology: Found in open sites, washes, desert and sagebrush shrublands, and woodlands, from 1,500-7,000 ft (457-2134 m); flowers April-November.

Distribution: WY, UT, AZ, SD, CO, NM, NE, KS, OK, TX; south to n MEX

Notes: A distinct and showy annual herb, relatively tall (up to 1 meter), and with many slender branches; thinly divided leaves; and open inflorescences with very long funnel-shaped white to light lavender flowers, up to 5 cm long, hence the species' name. Similar to I. laxiflora, but that species has shorter flowers, 1.5 to 2.5 cm long. Three subspecies are recognized in Arizona and New Mexico. Subsp. australis has seed capsules 7-10 mm long, equal to or slightly shorter than the calyx in fruit, and occurs throughout much of Arizona and New Mexico. Subsp. neomexicana has capsules 10-15 mm long, about twice as long as the calyx in fruit, and is common throughout New Mexico and northeast Arizona. Subsp. longiflora occurs in the eastern plains of New Mexico; it has a capsule the same size as subsp. neomexicana, but it only branches from the upper half of the central stem, and it is a stouter plant, with a stem base 4-9 mm diameter (1-4 mm in subsp. neomexicana).

Ethnobotany: Used medicinally as a purgative; also used ceremonially.

Etymology: Ipomopsis means like Ipomoea, the morning glory genus, while longiflora means long flowered.

Synonyms: None

Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015, AHazelton 2017