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Ipomoea alba

Common name:	Moonflower	Family:	Convolvulaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	200, 266
Synonyms:	Calonyction album ((L.)House.), Calonyction aculeatum ((L.)House.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Pantropical.
Habitat:	Wet forests, watercourses and disturbed areas in China[266].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Convolvulus aculeatus[G] Convolvulus maximus[G] I. bona-nox[G,P] I. maxima[G] I. noctiflora[G] I. noctiora[H]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Giant Moonflower [H], Liseron [E], Moonvine [H], Tropical White Morning-glory [B], Tropical White Morningglory [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	alba = white;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Solanales. Morning-glory family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Guiana; Hawaii; Samoa; Wi
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: Arizona.

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen perennial Climber growing to 10m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 8. It is in leaf all year, in flower from July to August. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Leaves; Seed.

Young leaves and fleshy calyces - cooked. Steamed and eaten as a vegetable or used in curries, soups, stews etc[183]. They can also be dried for later use[183].
Seed - eaten when young[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

The whole herb is used in treating snakebite[266].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a fertile well-drained loam in a warm sunny position[200].
This species is not hardy in the colder areas of the country, it tolerates temperatures down to between -5 and -10°c[200]. Another report says that plants need a minimum temperature of 5°c if they are to overwinter successfully[260].
A short-lived perennial or biennial species[187]. A fast-growing climbing plant, it is best grown as a temporary screen in the garden or along the boundary edge[200]. Plants need a long period of growth to reach flowering size and so are not very suitable for growing in pots in a greenhouse[260].
A climbing plant, supporting itself by twining around the branches of other plants[219].
The plant forms tubercles (baby tubers) on the stems and can be propagated by them[260].
The aromatic flowers open of a night time[188].

Propagation

Pre-soak the seed for 12 hours in warm water, or scarify the seed, and sow in individual pots in a greenhouse in early spring. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 3 weeks at 22°c. Plants are extremely resentful of root disturbance, even when they are quite small, and should be potted up almost as soon as they germinate[219]. Grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter then plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of side shoots in a peaty soil.
Layering.
Plants form tubercles on their stems[260]. These can be stored overwinter in a slightly moist medium such as sand or leafmould, keeping them in a cool but frost-free place. Pot them up in early spring.

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The aromatic flowers open of a night time.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Latin and Worldwide Common Names From Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database by M. H. Porcher et. al. 1995 - 2000 Landcare Systems Research Laboratory, Department of Crop Production,Institute of Land and Food Resources, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Calonyction aculeatum (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.

References for the family Convolvulaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[187] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2. Pan Books 1991 ISBN 0-330-30936-9
Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[219] Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. Gardening on Walls Collins 1983 ISBN 0-00-219220-0
A nice little book about plants for growing against walls and a small section on plants that can grow in walls.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[260] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2 Pan Books, London. 1998 ISBN 0-330-37376-5
Excellent photos of over 1,100 species and cultivars with habits and cultivation details plus a few plant uses. Many species are too tender for outdoors in Britain though there are many that can be grown outside.

[266] Flora of China 1994
On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

Readers Comments

Morning Glory Website

Rich (michael@thewitchshaven.com) Tue Oct 24 09:27:47 2000

An interesting page from a Convolvulaceae enthusiast which features many pictures of the plants and a seed swap area. The page is at http://www.exoticplants.org.uk/.

Cross references: Plants: Calystegia japonica. Genera: Calystegia, Ipomoea, Convolvulus.

Main Search Page

Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Ipomoea+alba
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Ipomoea+alba

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.