Bush Morning Glory

Ipomoea carnea

Native to FloridaInvasive · FISC Category II

Invasive — FISC Category II. The Florida Invasive Species Council lists this plant as increasing in abundance or frequency, though not yet altering Florida plant communities to the extent of Category I species. Please don't plant it; if it's on your land, consider removing it. About the FISC list

Bush Morning Glory (Ipomoea carnea) — Photo: (c) i_c_riddell, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by i_c_riddell · CC BY 4.0 · source

At a glance

Family: Convolvulaceae
Genus: Ipomoea
Status: Native to Florida
Sightings: 15 verified in Florida

About

Ipomoea carnea, the pink morning glory, is a species of morning glory that grows as a bush. This flowering plant has heart-shaped leaves that are a rich green and 6–9 inches (15–23 cm) long. It can be easily grown from seeds. These seeds are toxic and it can be hazardous to cattle; the toxicity is related to the swainsonine produced by its endophytes, and to bioaccumulation of selenium in the leaves but mostly in the seeds. Ingestion of seeds or leaves causes abnormal endocrine functions and gastrointestinal functions, immune system alternation, abnormality in embryogenesis.

The stem of I. carnea can be used for making paper. The plant is also of medicinal value. It contains a component identical to marsilin, a sedative and anticonvulsant. A glycosidic saponin has also been purified from I. carnea with anticarcinogenic and oxytocic properties.

One selection of I. carnea, 'Inducer', has been used as a rootstock for inducing flowering of sweetpotato cultivars which otherwise prove reticent to produce flowers.

Another common name is "bush morning glory", but particularly in temperate North America, that usually refers to I. leptophylla.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article “Ipomoea carnea”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where it grows in Florida

PanhandleNorth Central SouthKeys

North: Alachua, St. Johns
Central: Indian River, Lake, Manatee, Osceola, Pinellas, Sarasota
South: Miami-Dade

9 of 67 counties, from research-grade iNaturalist observations. They show where people have photographed it, not every place it grows — absence here isn't proof it's absent.