- Scientific Name: Ipomoea cairica (L.) Sweet
- Ref: Hort. Brit.:287. 1826
- Synonyms:
- Batatas cavanillesii (Schult.) G.Don
- B. pulchella (Roth ex Schult.) Bojer
- B. senegalensis (Lam.) G.Don
- Convolvulus bellus Spreng.
- C. cairicus L.
- C. cavanillesii (Schult.) Spreng.
- C. limphaticus Vell.
- C. longiflorus Heyne ex Steud.
- C. lupulifolia Griff.
- C. mucronatus G.Forst.
- C. pendulus (R.Br.) Spreng.
- C. quinquelobus Vahl
- C. tuberculatus Desr.
- C. vittatus Zipp. ex Span.
- Exocroa egyptiaca Raf.
- Ipomoea bouvetii Duchass. & Walp.
- I. buaralap Montrouz.
- I. cairica var. obtusata Hoehne
- I. cairica var. semineglabra (Blatt. & Hallb.) Bhandari
- I. cairica var. uniflora Hoehne
- I. cavanillesii Roem. & Schult.
- I. digitifolia Sweet
- I. frutescens Choisy
- I. funaria Larrañaga
- I. jacquinii Regel
- I. palmata Forssk.
- I. pendula R.Br.
- I. pentaphylla Cav.
- I. rosea var. pluripartita Hassl.
- I. senegalensis Lam.
- I. stipulacea Jacq.
- I. stipulacea f. pluriflora Meisn.
- I. stipulacea f. uniflora Meisn.
- I. stipulata Jacq.
- I. tuberculata var. abbreviata Choisy
- I. tuberculosa Desf.
- I. vesiculosa P.Beauv.
- English Common Name: mile-a-minute vine, Messina creeper, Cairo morning glory, coast morning glory, railroad creeper
- Chinese Common Name: 五爪金龙 wǔzhǎo∙jīnlóng
- Japanese Common Name: モミジヒルガオ [紅葉昼顔] momijihirugao
- Family: Convolvulaceae
- Genus: Ipomoea
- Distribution: Origin unknown, now distributed nearly pantropically: Africa, Asia, Pacific Islands, South America
- Photo: 06/21/2009, South China Botanical Garden, Guangdong
Herbs perennial, twining, with a tuberous root; axial parts ?glabrous. Stems to 5 m, thinly angular, ± tuberculate or smooth. Petiole 2-8 cm, base with leafy pseudostipules; leaf blade palmately 5-parted to base; lobes entire or minutely undulate, apex acute or obtuse, mucronulate, basal pair usually again lobed or parted; middle lobe larger, ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or elliptic, (2.5-)4-5 X (0.5-)2-2.5 cm. Inflorescences 1- or several flowered; peduncle 2-8 cm; bracts and bracteoles early deciduous, squamiform, small. Pedicel 0.5-2 cm, sometimes verruculose. Sepals unequal; outer 2 sepals 4-6.5 mm; inner ones 5-9 mm, glabrous, abaxially ± verruculose, margin paler, scarious. Corolla pink, purple, or reddish purple, with a darker center, rarely white, funnelform, (2.5-)5-7 cm. Stamens included, unequal. Ovary glabrous. Stigma 2-lobed. Capsule ± globose, ca. 1 cm. Seeds black, ca. 5 mm, densely tomentose, margin with longer hairs. 2n = 30*. (Flora of China)
