Morning Glory

The Morning Glory family is large, with family members growing in many parts of the world. In California, there are five genera, of which Calystegia is the largest, with twelve species. These white-flowered and pink-ribbed plants grow in canyons and chaparral.

On More Mesa, the Morning Glory species is Calystegia macrostegia ssp. cyclostegia. It is found throughout California, mostly on the Central Coast. It has shiny green arrow-shaped leaves on vines that climb out, over and under anything as it grows. Morning Glory has been seen to flower on More Mesa from as early as December to late summer.

Calystegia is derived from two Greek words “kalux” meaning cup and “stegos” meaning a covering.

The plants in the top picture were photographed at El Capitan, and the lower two on More Mesa.