Mystery Yellow Moonflower: Identification and Seed Saving

A night-blooming plant with lemon-yellow, 6-second-opening flowers and dandelion-like leaves is almost certainly a yellow-flowered form of Ipomoea alba (moonflower) or a related Ipomoea species. True moonflowers are typically white; yellow variants are rare but documented.

Seed Collection & Propagation

1. Leave one spent flower on the plant to develop a seed capsule.
2. When capsule turns brown and splits, collect black seeds.
3. Store cool, dry, dark in paper envelope until spring.
4. Sow indoors 4–6 weeks before last frost: soak seeds 24 h, plant 1 cm deep in warm (21 °C) soil.
5. Transplant after frost; provide trellis for climbing habit.

Care Tips

• Full sun, well-drained soil, regular water.
• Pinch young vines to encourage branching.
• Fertilize monthly with balanced formula.

For definitive ID, submit photos/flowers to your local extension office or a university herbarium. Meanwhile, saving seeds preserves this unique yellow form.