On my travels to southern Illinois this past Autumn, I came across this neat native wildflower growing along some railroad tracks.
Small White Morning Glory favors disturbed habitats like prairies, thickets, the gravelly bars of streams and banks of lakes, moist meadows near rivers or woodlands, abandoned fields, areas along roadsides and railroads and miscellaneous waste areas.
The “Morning Glory” name is applied because these flowers, which can be especially glorious when large numbers are blooming, will close up later in the day as the bright sun shines on them. Each flower is about one inch wide.
Small White Morning Glory’s heart-shaped leaves are often crimson-edged and it relies primarily on its vining habit to disperse into new areas. Its vines range from 3 to 10 feet in length.
The flowers of the Small White Morning Glory attract primarily bumblebees and other longer-tongued bees for its nectar.