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Name That Plant!

Anyone know what the name of this vine is?

2 years ago

Featured Answer

Jay 6a Chicago

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

It's probably Ipomoea batatas, Sweet Potato. The leaf color is washed out in the photo, but they usually have chartreuse leaves. All parts of it are edible, but most people only eat the tubers. The foliage comes in a range of colors including dark purple, and variegated forms. Water Spinach, Ipomoea aquatica is widely consumed in Asia, but I believe it's banned in the US. It's very invasive here in southern waterways. Ipomoea batatas is probably the next closest thing in taste, but I've tasted aquatica and it's nothing to write home about.

Comments (8)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
2 years ago
Aren’t they just terrible pictures of a morning glory? If you think not, we need far better pictures including clear close ups of the flower and buds and information on where in the world it is growing.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years ago
is it possible there are two different plants in there ..

i see a suggestion of english ivy.. but it clearly doesnt flower like that ...

ken
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A great little trailing plant for hanging baskets, there's also a green variety, no variegation. You don't seem to see it for sale much these days, if looking for it look in the basket stuffer section at garden centers. I have this growing as a ground cover in a large U shaped planter around a small pool, it runs along the top of the soil rooting at every node. Think twice before planting it in an unconfined space. Yes, Runaway Robin is good name for this little cutie, left to do it's thing without restrictions it will be earning another name, Devil's Disciple :o). Annette
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Looks a lot like the wild grape vines growing in my region. Terrible weed! Birds 'plant' them under all the trees. My neighbor's fence is covered with them. He doesn't care. I'm so sick of pulling them out. Once the root gets larger they must be dug to remove. They will come back from roots readily.
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It is trumpet vine, Campsis radicans, and is native to the eastern US, NOT Venezuela!! It is a very aggressive spreader once established and will send out shoots from its root system over a considerable distance. Many who have planted this in a small garden find this extremely problematic as these shoots will pop up everywhere, even through cracks in paving and in any nearby planting areas and long after the original vine has been cut down or removed.
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I had a boogie in a rental house in Hawaii, actually at my father's house that I lived at for awhile . It perched over a hill that went over a perfectly manicured Japanese garden . That thing had 10" diameter trunk and it divided at the base and was HUGE. It fell down on this woman's garden after a Kona Storm. IT was a steep slope below the plant. My boyfriend at the time had an old Ford Truck with a tall pipe rack on it that went up higher than the cab. We filled that thing up three times and took it to the dump. Did I mention that Bougies have thorns? We tried to access it all from above and not walk on her garden but she had gardened right up under it. She was very appreciative none the less and took the damage as part of life. She had enjoyed having this incredible wall of color hiding a un-gardenable slope and we did the best we could... I never realized that it was the landowners responsibility, not mine till later. I don't think he ever heard about it. She said she had never seen a haole girl work as hard as I did before. She was Japanese and we made friends over the experience. I am still friends with her daughters who all watched me critically from their lanai. That bougie took it in stride and was almost as large a year later. I have admired them vicariously. They love warm and arid .
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Jay 6a Chicago
2 years ago
Yes a morning glory with variable trilobed leaves, that could be mistaken for a Hedera species. The leaves don't match the similarly flowered Ipomoea pandurata or I. macrorhiza, and the plant seems larger than Ipomoea lucanosa although there is nothing in the photo to give a sense of scale. Ipomoea species hybridize easily, so it could also be a hybrid. It is important to give a location so we can narrow down the possibilities. We don't know if this is a vollunteer plant that is naturalizing in your area, or if it's a garden specimen that someone planted, and the native Ipomoea species only grow in a certain range.
lizmerrill
Original Author
2 years ago
san joaquin valley, calif. The neighbor planted in his front yard, and yesterday, he was harvesting the leaves and stems into a bag, for I assume to be consumed...any ideas?
fig_insanity Z7b E TN
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I agree with Jay: I. batatas. It appears to be one of the variegated forms (so the photo isn't *quite* as washed out as it seems, lol). In the eastern US, it rarely blooms north of zone 7, as it requires prolonged high heat. Many people in cooler climates will never see a bloom. Even the plain edible sweet potato blooms here for me if planted early enough (I usually grow the cultivar 'Beauregard').

The photo is absolutely typical of the leaf form and bloom of I. batatas.

I've never heard of anyone eating the tubers of the ornamental varieties, which they produce (with a long enough growing season) just like the edible forms do, but they belong to the same species as the edible types. But since they've been chosen for other characteristics than taste/flavor, it might be iffy.
Jay 6a Chicago
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I didn't notice the variegation, because I thought it was just the photo, hood catch.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-04488-4
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
2 years ago
Looks very much like sweet potato to me as well. I have some growing and the flowers are familiar.

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