Ipomoea pandurata

I. pandurata is a twining and scrambling vine that can reach {{convert|30|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}. The stems are usually hairless and bear alternate, olive-green, cordate leaves, about {{convert|6|in|cm|0|abbr=on}} long, with long, purple-tinged petioles. The flowers develop in the axils of the leaves in groups of one to five. The sepals are light green and hairless, and overlap one another. The flowers are tubular, white with a pinkish or purplish throat. The corolla is five-lobed, some {{convert|2.5|to|3|in|cm|1|abbr=on}} long and wide. The stamens form a white boss in the middle of the throat. Flowers open overnight and close, on a sunny day, about mid-day, but last longer in cloudy weather. They are followed by capsules containing two to four flat seeds which are noticeably hairy along their outer edges.

The native range is the southern and eastern parts of the United States, extending northwards into Ontario in Canada. Habitats include upland woods, the edges of prairies bordering woodlands, thickets, rocky gullies and stream-sides, disturbed ground, and railway and highway verges.{{cite web |url=http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/savanna/plants/ws_potato.htm |title=Wild sweet potato |author=Hilty, John |work=Wildflowers of Illinois: Savannas and Thickets|access-date=5 December 2016}}

Long-tongued bees such as honey bees, bumblebees and digger bees visit I. pandurata seeking nectar, as do various butterflies and moths. Tortoise beetles (subfamily Cassidinae) of various sorts and the sweet potato leaf beetle (Typophorus nigritus) feed on the leaves. The larvae of the latter two beetles feed on the swollen tuberous roots, while the larvae of the sweet potato leaf miner moth (Bedellia somnulentella), the morning-glory plume moth (Emmelina monodactyla) and the sweetpotato hornworm (Agrius cingulata) feed on the foliage. Mammalian herbivorous animals avoid this plant which tastes bitter and is toxic to some extent.

The root of this plant produces a large edible tuber that can be as much as {{convert|75|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|12|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} thick, weighing up to {{convert|10|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}.,{{cite web |url=http://www.pfaf.org/User/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Ipomoea+pandurata |title=Ipomoea pandurata – (L.) G.Mey. |publisher=Plants for a Future |access-date=6 December 2016}} with other sources alleging even larger sizes.{{cite book |last1=Haragan |first1=Patricia Dalton |title=Weeds of Kentucky and Adjacent States |date=1991 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |page=29}} This can be roasted and eaten, resembling a sweet potato, young specimens being best as older tubers may be bitter. Other uses for the plant include the preparation of a poultice from the roots which can be used to ease pain in rheumatic joints. The roots are also used to prepare an infusion that is said to have expectorant, diuretic and laxative effects.

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• [http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/ipomoeapand.html Ipomoea pandurata] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213182501/http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/ipomoeapand.html |date=13 December 2007 }} at Connecticut Botanical Society

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pandurata

Category:Flora of Northern America