Taxon: Ipomoea aquatica Forssk.

A declared noxious weed by USDA-APHIS.

A declared aquatic or terrestrial noxious weed and/or noxious-weed seed in these U.S. states (see state noxious weed lists), with links to state information or web documents:

ALª*, FLª, MAª, NCª, NHª, OKª, SCª, TXª.

ªAquatic.

*Terrestrial.

°In seed.

Link to noxious weed information from

Link to species profile at

Common names:

• Chinese water-spinach   (Source: USDA/APHIS ) – English
  
• swamp morning-glory   (Source: Names Beetle ) – English
  
• water-convolvulus   (Source: G. W. Staples, p.c.) – English
  
• water-spinach   (Source: World Econ Pl ) – English
  
• weng cai   (Source: F ChinaEng ) – Transcribed Chinese
  
• liseron d'eau   (Source: Pl Res SEAs 8:181.) – French
  
• patate aquatique   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – French
  
• Sumpfkohl   (Source: Zander Ency ) – German
  
• Wasserspinat   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – German
  
• kangkong   (Source: Mansf Ency ) – Indonesian
  
• yō-sai   (Source: F Okin ) – Japanese Rōmaji
  
• kangkung   (Source: F Males ) – Malay
  
• cancon   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Portuguese
  
• espinaca acuática   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• sallatsipomea   (Source: Vara kulturvaxt namn ) – Swedish
  
• phak bung   (Source: F Thailand ) – Transcribed Thai
  

More:

see MMPND for additional names in foreign scripts

Economic importance:

• Human food: vegetable   (widely traded in SE Asia fide Use Pl WT Afr; Invasive Pl Spec)
  
• Animal food: fodder   (fide Pl Res SEAs 8:181. 1993; Invasive Pl Spec)
  
• Medicines: folklore   (fide Herbs Commerce ed2)
  
• Weed: potential seed contaminant   (fide Rep NCEPPC; Invasive Pl Spec)
  

More:

View phytochemical or ethnobotanical data from Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases

Distributional range:

• AFRICA
  Northeast Tropical Africa: Chad; Ethiopia; Somalia; Sudan
  East Tropical Africa: Kenya; Tanzania [incl. Pemba, Zanzibar]; Uganda
  West-Central Tropical Africa: Burundi; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Congo
  West Tropical Africa: Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Mali; Mauritania; Nigeria; Senegal; Sierra Leone
  South Tropical Africa: Angola; Malawi; Mozambique; Zambia; Zimbabwe
  Southern Africa: Botswana; Namibia
• ASIA-TEMPERATE
  China: China
• ASIA-TROPICAL
  Indian Subcontinent: Bangladesh; India; Nepal; Pakistan; Sri Lanka
  Indo-China: Cambodia; Laos; Myanmar; Thailand; Vietnam
  Malesia: Indonesia; Malaysia; Papua New Guinea; Philippines
• AUSTRALASIA
  Australia: Australia - Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

• NORTHERN AMERICA
  United States
• PACIFIC
  North-Central Pacific: United States - Hawaii
  Northwestern Pacific: Micronesia
  South-Central Pacific: French Polynesia
• SOUTHERN AMERICA
  Caribbean: Dominican Republic; Haiti; Jamaica
  Mesoamerica: Costa Rica; Nicaragua; Panama
  Northern South America: Guyana; Suriname
  Brazil: Brazil
  Western South America: Peru

• widely cultivated in tropics

References:

• PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
• Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica.
• Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. 2009. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin).
• Austin, D. F. & Z. Huáman. 1996. A synopsis of Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) in the Americas. Taxon 45:5.
• Austin, D. F. 2007. Water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica, Convolvulaceae): a food gone wild. Ethnobot. Res. Applic. 5:123–146.
• Backer, C. A. & R. C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Jr. 1963–1968. Flora of Java.
• Beetle, A. A. 1970. Recommended plant names. Univ. Wyoming Agr. Exp. Sta. Res. J. 31.
• Berhaut, J. 1971–. Flore illustrée du Senegal.
• Bhandari, M. M. 1978. Flora of the Indian desert.
• Burkill, H. M. 1985–2004. The useful plants of west tropical Africa.
• Campbell, F. T., ed. 1995. Report of National Coalition of Exotic Plant Pest Councils. (unpublished draft)
• Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants. Florida state list aquatic & wetland noxious weeds - from Department of Environmental Protection (on-line resource).
• Cufodontis, G. 1953–1972. Enumeratio plantarum aethiopiae: Spermatophyta.
• Dassanayake, M. D. & F. R. Fosberg, eds. 1980–. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon.
• Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen.
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
• Fosberg, F. R. et al. 1979–1982. Geographical checklist of the Micronesian Dicotyledonae/ Pteridophyta and Gymnospermae.
• Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6. 4:1860.
• Hara, H. et al. 1978–1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
• Hara, H. Flora of eastern Himalaya. v. 1:1966, v. 2:1971, v. 3:1975
• Hnatiuk, R. J. 1990. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11.
• Holm, L. et al. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds.
• Kartesz, J. T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland.
• Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953–1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2.
• Lejoly, J. & S. Lisowski. 1992. Les genres Merremia et Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) dans la flore d'Afrique Centrale (Zaire, Rwanda, Burundi). Fragm. Florist. Geobot. 37:110.
• Li, H. L. et al., eds. 1975–1979. Flora of Taiwan.
• Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2.
• Matthew, K. M. 1983. The flora of the Tamilnadu Carnatic.
• McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2.
• Merxmüller, H., ed. 1966–1972. Prodromus einer flora von Sudwestafrika.
• Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970–. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
• Plant Protection and Quarantine Office. United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Federal noxious weed list (on-line resource).
• Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
• Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants.
• Ross, J. 1972. The flora of Natal.
• Saldanha, C. J. & D. H. Nicolson. 1976. Flora of Hassan district.
• Siemonsma, J. S. & Kasem Piluek, eds. 1993. Vegetables. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). 8:181–184.
• Smitinand, T. & K. Larsen, eds. 1970–. Flora of Thailand.
• Staples, G. W. 1996. pers. comm. [re. English common names].
• Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. 1948–. Flora malesiana.
• Steward, A. N. 1958. Manual of vascular plants of the lower Yangtze valley.
• Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952–. Flora of tropical East Africa.
• USDA National Agricultural Library. National Invasive Species Information Center (on-line resource).
• Walker, E. 1976. Flora of Okinawa and the southern Ryukyu Islands.
• Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds.
• Westphal, E. & P. C. M. Jansen, eds. 1989. A selection. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). A:164.
• Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994–. Flora of China (English edition).
• Yunnan Inst. Bot. & Kunming Inst. Bot. Acad. Sci., eds. 1977–. Flora yunnanica.

More:

Search AGRICOLA article citation database for citations referencing Ipomoea aquatica.

Search NCBI's Entrez search engine for PubMed citations referencing Ipomoea aquatica.

Search Biodiversity Heritage Library for historical publications referencing Ipomoea aquatica.

Synonyms:

• (=) Ipomoea reptans Poir.
  (previously associated with 6 accessions)

Check other web resources for Ipomoea aquatica Forssk.:

• PLANTS: USDA-NRCS Database of Plants of the United States and its Territories
• BONAP: North American Plant Atlas of the Biota of North America Program
• Flora of China: Online version from Harvard University
• AVH: Australia's Virtual Herbarium
• SIBIS: South African National Biodiversity Institute's (SANBI) Integrated Biodiversity System
• On-line Flora of Zimbabwe
• TROPICOS: Nomenclatural and Specimen Database of the Missouri Botanical Garden
• Mansfeld: Mansfeld's World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops
• PROTABASE: Plant Resources of Tropical Africa's (PROTA's) online resource
• ePIC: Electronic Plant Information Centre of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• AGRICOLA: Article Citation Database or NAL Catalog of USDA's National Agricultural Library
• Entrez: NCBI's search engine for PubMed citations, GenBank sequences, etc.

Images:

• Disseminule drawings: U.S. National Seed Herbarium drawing
• Embryo drawing: U.S. National Seed Herbarium drawing
• Forestry Images: from www.forestryimages.org

More:

• Check PlantSystematics.org for additional images
• Images Note: Be advised that their identity may be inaccurate. Proper identification of a plant may require specialized taxonomic knowledge or comparison with properly documented herbarium material.

Abbreviations & symbols in GRIN Taxonomy

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