Cardinal Climber

Cardinal Climber is I. multifida. They have small (1-inch) pentagonal-shaped red blooms. Supposedly, variations the color of the lighter throat area do exist. But the blooms on my plants have a touch of yellow-orange in the throat. This bloom matches the color scheme of my car!

But the most remarkable thing about this species of morning glory is the shape of the leaves. They look like tiny oak leaves.

Apparently many people confuse Cardinal Climber with Hummingbird Vine (a.k.a. "Cyprus Vine"), but the leaves are completely dissimilar and the blooms are easily distinguished ().

Allegedly, hummingbirds like Cardinal Climber as well as they like their namesake vine, but I have yet to see a single hummingbird on mine.

2004 is the first year that I have grown Cardinal Climber. There are several Cardinal Climbers shown here my chain-link fence. They get about 12 hours of direct sunlight every day. Other species of Ipomoea seem to grow very well in this spot.

HISTORY:

Although often confused, these two morning glorys are NOT even of the same species. Cardinal Climber is Ipomoea multifida while Hummingbird Vine is Ipomoea quamoclit.

Here is a side-by-side comparison.

It is easy to tell the difference between Hummingbird Vine (a.k.a. Cyprus Vine) (LEFT) and Cardinal Climber. First, the blooms on Hummingbird Vine are a five-pointed star whereas the blooms on Cardinal Climber are pentagonal. The foilage on Hummingbird Vine is "fern-like" while the leaves on Cardinal Climber are "oak-like".

Also, Hummingbird Vine comes in three colors. I have grown white and red. But I have seen seeds being sold for pink Hummingbird Vine.