Giant Potato

The leaves and roots are used externally to treat tuberculosis and for the treatment of external and breast infections.

The origin of Ipomoea mauritiana is unknown, but it may be in tropical America, where the nearest relatives occur.

Ipomoea mauritiana has often been misidentified as I. digitata (Linnaeus) Linnaeus, a West Indian endemic that does not occur in Asia.

Herbs perennial, twining, with glabrous or minutely muricate axial parts. Roots tuberous. Stems to 10 m, thinly angular. Petiole 3-11 cm; leaf blade circular in outline, 7-18 X 7-22 cm, usually palmately 5-7-divided to or beyond middle, rarely entire or shallowly lobed; segments lanceolate or elliptic, glabrous or sparsely pubescent along midvein, entire or irregularly undulate, apex acuminate or acute, mucronulate. Inflorescences few to many flowered; peduncle 2.5-20 cm; bracts early deciduous. Pedicel 0.9-2.2 cm. Sepals ± circular, oblong to broadly elliptic, concave, equal or outer 2 shorter, 7-12 mm, glabrous, apex obtuse. Corolla pink or reddish purple, with a darker center, funnelform, 5-6 cm; limb 5-7 cm in diam., undulate. Stamens included. Pistil included; ovary glabrous. Stigma 2-lobed. Capsule ovoid, 1.2-1.4 cm. Seeds dark brown, ca. 6 mm, woolly-sericeous with long, easily detached hairs. 2n = 30.

Nepal; Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Pacific island

Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, S Yunnan [Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan (Ogasawara and Ryukyu Islands), Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; Pacific Islands]

100 - 1100m

Waste places, dwarf forests near seashores, thickets, montane forests, streamsides; 0-1100 m.

mauritiana: from Mauritius

Robust perennial climber, growing from large tuberous roots. Stems twining rarely prostrate, becoming woody. Leaves almost circular in outline, usually palmately 3-9-lobed, sometimes entire, up to 20 × 15 cm; lobes lanceolate to ovate, acuminate; petiole 3-11 cm long. Inflorescences axillary, few to many-flowered; peduncle up to 18 cm long. Calyx markedly convex, 6-11 mm long, clasping the corolla tube. Corolla funnel-shaped but more or less distinctly 5-lobed, 6-9 cm in diameter, reddish-purple or pinkish-mauve with a darker centre. Capsule ovoid-spherical, hairless, Seeds covered in silky hairs c. 7 mm long.

More or less pantropical; also in South Africa.

Ipomoea mauritiana is a type of morning glory plant. Like the sweet potato, it belongs to the genus Ipomoea. It grows as a vine.

Its origins are uncertain, but it has been recorded in West Africa, including in Gambia and the riparian forests of Benin, as well as Australia's Northern Territory. It is naturalised in many parts of the world, including Taiwan.

Specimens have been collected or observations taken in Australia, Belize, Benin, Brunei, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Colombia, DRC, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Honduras, Indonesia, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Micronesia, Federated States of Myanmar, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo and Venezuela.