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Ipomoea pandurata
Also called Wild Potato-vine, Big Root Morning Glory, Bigroot Morning Glory, Manroot, Wild Sweet Potato, Wild Sweet Potato Vine, Bigroot Morningglory
Ipomoea pandurata, known as man of the earth, wild potato vine, manroot, wild sweet potato, is a species of herbaceous perennial vine native to North America. It is a twining plant of woodland verges and rough places with heart-shaped leaves and funnel-shaped white flowers with a pinkish throat. The large tuberous roots can be roasted and eaten, or can be used to make a poultice or infusion. When uncooked, the roots have purgative properties.
The native range is the southern and eastern parts of the United States, extending northwards into Ontario in Canada. Habitats include upland woods, the edges of prairies bordering woodlands, thickets, rocky gullies and stream-sides, disturbed ground, and railway and highway verges.
The root of this plant produces a large edible tuber that can be as much as 75 cm (30 in) long and 12 cm (5 in) thick, weighing up to 10 kg (22 lb)., with other sources alleging even larger sizes. This can be roasted and eaten, resembling a sweet potato, young specimens being best as older tubers may be bitter. Other uses for the plant include the preparation of a poultice from the roots which can be used to ease pain in rheumatic joints. The roots are also used to prepare an infusion that is said to have expectorant, diuretic and laxative effects.
Ipomoea abrupta · Ipomoea aequatoriensis · Tropical white morning-glory · Redcenter morning-glory · Swamp morning-glory · Tree morning glory · Aristolochia Leaved Morning Glory · Ginger-leaf morning-glory · Ipomoea aurantiaca · Canyon morning-glory · Sweet potato · Ipomoea batatoides
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ipomoea pandurata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
