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Ipomoea cairica
Also called Railway Creeper, Cairo Morning Glory, Coastal Morning Glory, Five Leaf Morning Glory, Mile A Minute, Railroad Creeper, Coast Morning Glory
Mile a minute vine (Ipomoea cairica) is a fast-growing, hairless, herbaceous perennial climber with palmate leaves and showy lavender or white funnel-shaped flowers, often grown to quickly cover fences and walls. It is a species, not a genus, and its key to growing is warmth, sun and room to climb, though it can become invasive in warm regions.
Ipomoea cairica is a vining, herbaceous, perennial plant with palmate leaves and large, showy white to lavender flowers. A species of morning glory, it has many common names, including mile-a-minute vine, Messina creeper, Cairo morning glory, coast morning glory and railroad creeper. The species name cairica translates to "from Cairo", the city where this species was first collected.
Some plant nurseries sell this plant as an ornamental plant thanks to its showy purple flowers and as well for its fast growth to quickly cover unsightly fences or walls. It can grow as a separate plant if snapped during attempted removal process. The plant causes respiratory symptoms if ingested.
Ipomoea cairica 'alba', also known as 'white Cairo morning glory', is a variety with white flowers.
Its exact native range is uncertain, though it is believed to originate from a rather wide area, ranging from Cape Verde to the Arabian Peninsula, including northern Africa, tropical Africa and the Mediterranean. It covers walls, fences or trees, with stems that can measure more than 10 metres (33 ft) in length. The altitude at which it has been recorded ranges from 250 metres (820 ft) to 2,250 m (7,380 ft).
Most parts of the plant are edible. Its roots are reportedly edible when cooked and its leaves are eaten when young.
Tropical white morning-glory · Swamp morning-glory · Ginger-leaf morning-glory · Sweet potato · Gloria de la manana · Redstar · Ipomoea corymbosa · Lady Doorly's morning-glory · Beach morning-glory · Oceanblue Morning Glory · Whitestar · Spanish Flag
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ipomoea cairica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
