Ipomoea trifida

{{short description|Species of plant}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Ipomoea trifida 3.jpg

| genus = Ipomoea

| species = trifida

| authority = (Kunth) G. Don

| synonyms = *Convolvulus trifidus (Kunth) G. Don{{cite web |url=http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2014/details/species/id/16689149 |title=Ipomoea trifida |publisher=Catalogue of Life |website=2014 Annual Checklist |accessdate=2019-07-11}}

• Convolvulus hepaticifolius (Willd. ex Roem. & Schult.)
• Ipomoea confertiflora (Standl.)
• Ipomoea cordatotriloba var. torreyana (Gray) D.F. Austin

}}

Ipomoea trifida, the threefork morning glory, is a species of flowering plant in the family Convolvulaceae. It is native to the Caribbean, Mexico, and South America.{{Cite web |url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=30802#null |title=ITIS Standard Report Page: Ipomoea trifida |website=www.itis.gov |publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |access-date=2019-07-10}} I. trifida is known for being the closest living wild relative to I. batatas, or the common sweet potato, and is believed to have split from this relative at least 800,000 years ago.{{Cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |author=Zimmer, Carl |date=2018-04-12 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/science/sweet-potato-pacific-dna.html |title=All by Itself, the Humble Sweet Potato Colonized the World |access-date=2019-07-10 |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Fox |first=Alex |date=2018-04-12 |title=Sweet potato migrated to Polynesia thousands of years before people did |url=http://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-04488-4 |journal=Nature |language=EN |doi=10.1038/d41586-018-04488-4 |accessdate=2019-07-11}} The roots of this plant are thin and inedible, while the flowers tend to be purple.