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Water spinach

Thu, 02/21/2008 - 2:31pm — beth56
Ipomoea aquatica -- Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants

Ipomoea aquatica

Native to Florida


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    The long viney stem of water spinach distinguishes it from other aquatic plants. Its vines can reach nine feet long. Water spinach leaves are almost arrowhead-shaped, one to six inches long, and one to three inches wide. The leaves have notched bases, with rounded or pointed lobes. Water spinach flowers are morning-glory-like: two inches wide, funnel-shaped and can be white, pink, or pale lilac. They bloom in the summer. Ipomoea aquatica is rarely found in the shallow water in ponds, lakes, and rivers of Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Manatee counties of Florida. It is native to the East Indies but escaped cultivation (Wunderlin, 2003).

    View more information and pictures about water spinach, as contained in the Langeland/Burks book, Identification & Biology of Non-Native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas.

    See the UF/IFAS Assessment lists plants according to their invasive status in Florida.

    water spinach View the herbarium specimen image of the University of Florida Herbarium Digital Imaging Projects.