Ipomoea cairica
Encyclopedia
- "Railroad Creeper" redirects here; not to be confused with I. dumetorum.
Ipomoea cairica morning glory
Ipomoea
Ipomoea is the largest genus in the flowering plant family Convolvulaceae, with over 500 species. Most of these are called "morning glories", but this can refer to related genera also. Those formerly separated in Calonyction are called "moonflowers"...
has many common names, including Mile-a-minute Vine, Messina Creeper, Cairo Morning Glory, Coast Morning Glory and Railroad Creeper. This vining perennial has palmate leaves and large, showy white to lavender flowers. Each fruit matures at about 1 cm across and contains hairy seeds.
Its native range is uncertain, though it is believed to originate from a rather wide area, ranging from Cape Verde
Cape Verde
The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...
to the Arabian Peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
, including northern Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
Because of human dispersal, it occurs today on most continents as an introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
and is sometimes a noxious weed. It is a major problem along the coast of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. In the United States it occurs in Hawaii, California, all the gulf coast states, as well as Arkansas and Missouri.
Some plant nurseries sell this plant as an ornamental. It can grow as a separate plant if snapped during attempted removal process.