Thursday, August 9, 2007

A GLORIOUS MORNING IN CENTRAL PARK

Walking along the path north of Central Park's SHEEP MEADOW (Lilac Walk) last Sunday morning, I saw these beautiful crawling vines of morning glory with purple and pink flowers. Known scientifically as Ipomoea purpurea, the purple morning glory is native to Mexico and Central America. The plant entwines itself around structures with its viny stems, like the fence of the Sheep Meadow, growing to a height of 2-3 m tall. The leaves are heart-shaped. The flowers are trumpet-shaped, predominantly blue to purple, pink or white, about 3-6 cm diameter. What makes these flowers special is that they typically last for a single morning and die in the afternoon. New flowers bloom each day. The flowers usually start to fade a couple of hours before the petals curl up.

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