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Ipomoea leptophylla

Common name:	Bush Moon Flower	Family:	Convolvulaceae
Author:	Torr.	Botanical references:	1, 274
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Southern N. America - South Dakota to Nebraska, Wyoming, New Mexico and Texas.
Habitat:	Plains and dry banks, especially on sandy shores[85].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Ipomea leptophylla[Shl]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Bush Morning Glory [S], Bush Morning-glory [B], Bush Morningglory [P], Morning Glory, Bush [S],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	leptophylla = thin leaved
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Solanales. Morning-glory family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Na
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: Arizona.

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1.2m. It is hardy to zone 9. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) 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

Root.

Root - raw or cooked. Crisp, sweet and tender[2, 46, 61, 85]. Some reports suggest that the root is not very nice and was only used when nothing else was available, this is probably because old roots were tried[85, 257]. Roots should be no more than 3 years old, preferably only 2[85]. The roots can be up to 1.2 metres long[2] and weigh 11 kilos[235]. This report almost certainly refers to roots older than 3 years[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Cardiac Salve Stomachic.

This plant was used as a cardiac stimulant by some native North American Indian tribes[213].
An infusion of the staminate cones has been used as a stomach tonic[257].
The root has been scraped and eaten raw as a treatment for stomach troubles[257]. The pulverized root has been dusted onto the body as a dressing to ease pain[257].

Other Uses

Miscellany.

Some native North American Indian tribes would use the root to store fire in the days before matches. They would start a fire in the root, wrap it up and hang it outside. It was said that the fire would keep for seven months[257].

Cultivation details

Requires a rich well-drained soil in a warm sunny position[1].
Requires greenhouse protection in Britain[1]. A plant survived 2 winters outdoors in a pot in &ndndndnd before succumbing to a very wet and cold winter[K]. This does suggest that the plant is hardy enough to survive outdoors at least in the milder parts of Britain[K].
A climbing plant, supporting itself by twining around the branches of other plants[219].

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.

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.
[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 Ipomea leptophylla (a possible synonym).

[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine

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

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[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.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

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 Help 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.
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