Ipomoea turbinata

Lagasca

ConvolvulaceaeFruitLeavesSeeds/NutsPotential hazards — see below
Caution — Parts of this plant may be toxic or require specific preparation. Verify with multiple sources before consuming.
Ipomoea turbinata
iNaturalist · cc-by-sa
(c) Juan Cruzado Cortés, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
Ipomoea turbinata
iNaturalist · cc-by-sa
(c) Juan Cruzado Cortés, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
Ipomoea turbinata
iNaturalist · cc-by
(c) Sue Carnahan, some rights reserved (CC BY)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Seeds, Fruit, Fruit stalks, Vegetable, Leaves

The young seeds, fruit, and thickened fruit stalks are cooked and eaten as vegetables. The leaves are also eaten as a vegetable.

Known Hazards

The various parts of the plant are used as food, medicine and poison by the peoples of its native and expanded range. In the Indian state of Kerala, the plant is called clove bean or nithya vazhutana and the swollen peduncles are consumed, typically pan-fried or as a thoran.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It grows in thickets and on flood plains between 600-1,200 m altitude. In Yunnan.

Africa, Angola, Argentina, Asia, Burkina Faso, Central Africa, China, East Africa, Gambia, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Japan, Kashmir, Malawi, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, North America, Northeastern India, Pakistan, Philippines, SE Asia, Sierra Leone, South America, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Antigua & Barbuda, Armenia, Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, Burundi, Benin, Brunei, Bolivia, Brazil, Bahamas, Bhutan, Botswana, Belize, Canada, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Chile, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Algeria, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Grenada, Georgia, French Guiana, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Haiti, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jamaica, Jordan, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Comoros, St Kitts & Nevis, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, St Lucia, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Mongolia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Maldives, Malawi, Mexico, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Nepal, Oman, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sudan, Singapore, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, Suriname, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, El Salvador, Syria, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Trinidad & Tobago, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, St Vincent, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

An annual herb. It is twining. It has milky sap. The stems are 2-10 m long. The leaf blade is heart shaped and 7-18 cm long by 7-15 cm wide. The flowers come out at night. The flower stalk is 3-6 cm long. The fruit is an oval capsule 2 cm across. The seeds are black and 3 sided.

Names & Synonyms

Ding xiang qie, Kantel phool, Nithya vazhuthana, Phang

Calonyction longiflorum HasskarlCalonyction muricatum (L.) G. DonConvolvulus muricatus L.Ipomoea bonanox L. var. purpurascens Ker GawlerIpomoea muricata (L.) Jacq.
References (10)
  • Dalziel, J. M., 1937, The Useful plants of west tropical Africa. Crown Agents for the Colonies London.(As Calonyction muricatum)
  • Datar, M. N. & Upadhye, A. S., 2016, Forest foods of northern region of Western Ghats. MACS - Agharkar Research Institute, Pune. Pp 1-160. ISBN: 978-93-85735-10-3 p 97
  • Flora of China. Vol. 16 p 310
  • Flora of China. www.eFloras.org
  • Gunn, 1972, Brittonia 24:150-168
  • Jadhav, R., et al, 2015, Forest Foods of Northern Western Ghats: Mode of Consumption, Nutrition and Availability. Asian Agri-History Vol. 19, No. 4: 293-317
  • Joseph, M. A. & Antony, V. T., 2014, Wild edible Convolvulacean members used by the ULLADA tribes of ALEPPEY DISTRICT, KERALA. Journal of Science Vol. 4 No. 7 p 425-427
  • Kuvar, S. D. & Shinde, R. D., 2019, Wild Edible Plants used by Kokni Tribe of Nasik District, Maharashtra. Journal of Global Biosciences. Volume 8, Number 2, 2019, pp. 5936-5945
  • Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 96
  • Prabha, Y. P., et al, 2010, Documentation of Wild Edible Plants of Melghat Forest, Dist. Amravati, Maharashtra State, India. Ethnobotanical Leaflets 14: 751-58, 2010.

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