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Ipomoea aquatica

Botanic Family

Convolvulaceae

Author

Forsskal

Cultivated

C, pot herb

Common Names

• On Choy
• Water Spinach
• Weng cai (Pinyin)
• Swamp Cabbage
• Ung-choi
• Ung-tsoi
• Ong-tsai (Hollow Stem Vegetable)
• Kalmi Sak (India)
• Kalmi Shak (Bangladesh)
• Phak Bong (Laos)
• Kazun-galay (Myanmar)
• Kazun-ywet (Myanmar)
• Rabbit Greens
• Ye-kazun (Myanmar)
• Giàu muông (Vietnam)
• Rau mung (Vietnam)
• Tra kuôn (Vietnam)
• River Spinach
• Water Morning Glory
• Water Convolvulus
• Chinese Spinach
• Kangkong
• Chinese Kangkong
• Swamp Morning Glory
• Patate Aquatique (French)
• Vilucchio d'acqua (Italian)
• Wasserspinat (German)
• Cancon (Portuguese)
• Kong Xin Cai or Tong Cai or Ong Choi or Yung Ts'ai (Chinese)
• Kalmua (Hindi)
• Asagaona (Japanese)
• Trâkuön or Rau Muong (Vietnamese)
• Bôngz or Phak Bung (Laotian)
• Trakuo (Cambodian)
• Tangkong (Filipino)
• Vallai Kirai or Koilanga (Tamil)
• Kalaka (Sanskrit)
• Phak Bung (Thai)
• Tinangkong (Philippines)
• Èminnin or Èminnin-Odo (Holly)
• Tôwèli (Cotafon)
• Tôdokui (Mahi)
• Liseron d'Eau
• Swamp Spinach
• Kangkong (Tagalog)

Geographical Habitats

• Northern Territory
• Queensland
• Western Australia - Australia
• Angola
• Bangladesh
• Borneo
• Botswana
• Burundi
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Caroline Islands
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• China
• Comoros
• Congo
• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Fiji
• Gabon
• Gambia
• Ghana
• Gilbert Islands
• Guinea
• Gulf States
• India
• Java
• Lesser Sunda Islands
• Maluku
• Sulawesi
• Sumatra - Indonesia
• Ivory Coast
• Kenya
• Laos
• Liberia
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Malaysia
• Mali
• Marianas
• Mauritania
• Mozambique
• Myanmar
• Namibia
• Nepal
• Nigeria
• Oman
• Pakistan
• New Guinea - Papua New Guinea
• Philippines
• Saudi Arabia
• Senegal
• Sierra Leone
• Somalia
• Natal - South Africa
• Sri Lanka
• Sudan
• Tanzania
• Thailand
• Togo
• Uganda
• Vanuatu
• Vietnam
• Yemen
• Zaire
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

Natural Habitats

• Marshy areas
• ditches
• ponds
• waste areas
• rivers
• lakes

Flowering Times

• Summer

Fruiting Times

Scrambling twining perennial or annual glabrous terrestrial trailing or floating glabrous herbaceous climber to 3m+ or aquatic herb, striately furrowed hollow stems rooting. Glabrous mucronate leaves sometimes toothed to 170mm x 100mm. Axillary 1 to many-flowered cymes with minute bracts to 2mm long, purple, pink or white flowers with darker centres, glabrous 5 mucronulate sepals to 10mm long, mauve, purple or rarely white corolla 75mm x 60mm with darker centre. Brown glabrous capsule to 10mm across with persistent calyx.

Naturalised in some places, a known aggresive weed

Medicinal uses, young shoots used as vegetable.

Further References

• Sturtevant 1919
• Mobot
• FOC
• FOH
• NYBG
• Neotrop
• JDH
• The Plant List 2
• G. Don
• FA
• USNH
• Botanicus
• F Indochine
• FOTA
• Flora Malesiana
• JAA
• GBS
• Kew
• Merremia
• Tanziman Ara
• BTH
• Wiart 2
• USEP