Ipomoea pes-caprae (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Ipomoea pes-caprae (L.) R.Br.

Protologue: Tuckey, Narr. Exped. Zaire: 477 (1818).

Family: Convolvulaceae

Synonyms

• Convolvulus pes-caprae L. (1753),
• Ipomoea biloba Forssk. (1775),
• Ipomoea maritima (Desr.) R.Br. (1810).

Vernacular names

• Beach morning glory, horse’s footprint, goat’s foot creeper (En). Bay-hops (Am).
• Liseron pied de chèvre (Fr)
• Indonesia: batata pantai (Manado), daun katang (Moluccas), katang-katang (Balinese)
• Malaysia: batata pantai, tapak kuda
• Papua New Guinea: m’buwch (Manus Island), kokolauna (Hula, Central Province), oopurauna (Hisiu, Central Province)
• Philippines: bagasua (Tagalog, Bisaya), balim-balim (Tagalog), kamkamote (Iloko).
• Burma (Myanmar): pinlaikazum
• Cambodia: trakuon kantek, pak bung tale
• Thailand: phak bung thale (central), la-buu-lao (peninsular)
• Vietnam: rau muống biển, bìm chân dê.

Distribution

Common along all tropical beaches, including South-East Asia.

Uses

The plant is mucilaginous and is considered astringent, tonic, alterative, diuretic and laxative, useful in skin affections. In Indonesia, a decoction of the root is considered emollient and diminishes the irritation caused by bladder infections. A paste of the leaves is spread on ulcers and boils, to ripen them. The seed is chewed and swallowed as a remedy for cramp and stomach-ache. In the Philippines, Australia, India and Middle America, a decoction is considered anodynal in rheumatism. Leaf sap is applied to jellyfish stings in Peninsular Malaysia and Thailand. The seeds are taken for stomach-ache in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indo-China and India.

I. pes-caprae is a colonizer of sand dunes and an excellent sand binder.

Observations

• A perennial, glabrous vine, stems prostrate, sometimes twining, 5-30 m long, containing a milky juice, often rooting at the nodes, taproot thick.
• Leaves often pointing to one side, variable, ovate, elliptical, circular, reniform, 3.5-10 cm × 3-10 cm, base broadly cuneate to truncate, apex emarginate or deeply 2-lobed, 2 abaxial glands at the base of midrib, blade thick, petiole up to 17 cm long.
• Flowers in a 1-few-flowered cyme, peduncle stout, 3-16 cm long; pedicel 1-7 cm long, sepals unequal, somewhat leathery, corolla funnel-shaped, 3-6.5 cm long, purple to reddish-purple, centre with darker inside, filaments hairy at base.
• Capsule globular, 1-1.7 cm in diameter, glabrous, leathery.
• Seeds 4, trigonous-globose, 6-10 mm long, black, densely brownish tomentose.

I. pes-caprae occurs just behind the flood-line on beaches often colonizing these completely. It also occurs inland, along roadsides and ditches, up to 800 m altitude. Two subspecies are distinguished, subsp. pes-caprae with deeply 2-lobed leaves, lobes rounded, corolla about 6.5 cm long, and subsp. brasiliensis (L.) Ooststr. with emarginate to truncate leaves, and corolla 3-5 cm long. This later one is most common in South-East Asia.

Selected sources

• [74] Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1964—1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1964) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
• [134] Burkill, H.M., 1985—2000. The useful plants of West tropical Africa. 2nd Edition. 5 volumes. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Vol. 1 (1985), Families A—D, 960 pp.; Vol. 2 (1994), Families E—I, 636 pp.; Vol. 3 (1995), Families J—L, 857 pp.; Vol. 4 (1997), Families M—R, 969 pp; Vol. 5 (2000), Families S—Z, 686 pp.
• [135] Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A—H) pp. 1—1240, Vol. 2 (I—Z) pp. 1241—2444.
• [215] Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948—1976. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials & industrial products. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi, India.
• [297] Farnsworth, N.R. & Bunyapraphatsara, N. (Editors), 1992. Thai medicinal plants. Medicinal Plant Information Center, Prachachon Co., Bangkok, Thailand. 402 pp.
• [407] Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
• [418] Holdsworth, D.K., 1977. Medicinal plants of Papua New Guinea. Technical Paper No 175. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 123 pp.
• [506] Kane, M.E., Bird, K.T. & Lee, T.M., 1993. In vitro propagation of Ipomoea pes-caprae (railroad-vine). Journal of Coastal Research 9(2): 356—362.
• [647] Mansfeld, R., 1986. Verzeichnis landwirtschaftlicher und gärtnerischer Kulturpflanzen (ohne Zierpflanzen) [Register of agricultural and horticultural plants in cultivation (without ornamentals)]. Schultze-Motel, J. et al. (Editors). 2nd Edition. 4 volumes. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany. 1998 pp.
• [696] Morton, J.F., 1981. Atlas of medicinal plants of Middle America. Bahamas to Yucatan. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, United States. 1420 pp.
• [786] Perry, L.M., 1980. Medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia. Attributed properties and uses. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States & London, United Kingdom. 620 pp.
• [799] Pongprayoon, U., Baeckstrom, P., Jacobsson, U., Lindstrom, M. & Bohlin, L., 1991. Compounds inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis isolated from Ipomoea pes-caprae. Planta Medica 57(6): 515—518.
• [800] Pongprayoon, U., Baeckstrom, P., Jacobsson, U., Lindstrom, M. & Bohlin, L., 1992. Antispasmodic activity of ß-damascenone and E-phytol isolated from Ipomoea pes-caprae. Planta Medica 58(1): 19—21.
• [867] Saralamp, P., Chuakul, W., Temsiririrkkul, R. & Clayton, T. (Editors), 1996. Medicinal plants in Thailand. Vol. I. Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. 219 pp.
• [1026] van Oostrom, S.J., 1940. The Convolvulaceae of Malaysia, III. Blumea 3(3): 481—582.
• [1071] Wijayakusuma, H.M.H., Wirian, A.S., Yaputra, T., Dalimartha, S. & Wibowo, B., 1992. Tanaman berkhasiat obat di Indonesia [Medicinal plants in Indonesia]. Vol. 1. Pustaka Kartini, Jakarta, Indonesia. 122 pp.

Main genus page

• Ipomoea (Medicinal plants)
• See also Ipomoea (Auxiliary plants)

Authors

• Anna L.H. Dibiyantoro & G.H. Schmelzer