Ipomoea aquaticaForssk.

swamp morning-glory

WFO wfo-0001296661 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Ipomoea aquatica, photographed by Sarka Masova
fig. a Sarka Masova, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-21 / obs. 199404778
Ipomoea aquatica, photographed by Augustin Soulard
fig. b Augustin Soulard, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 199302467
Ipomoea aquatica, photographed by chiuluan
fig. c chiuluan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 198413004
Ipomoea aquatica, photographed by chiuluan
fig. d chiuluan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 198431757
Ipomoea aquatica, photographed by Utain Pummarin
fig. e Utain Pummarin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 196717386
Ipomoea aquatica, photographed by 葉子
fig. f 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 204379879
Ipomoea aquatica, photographed by 葉子
fig. g 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 185028824
Ipomoea aquatica, photographed by 葉子
fig. h 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 185030026

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 78 botanical countries

Regions where Ipomoea aquatica is native: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Caprivi Strip, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, China South-Central, China Southeast, Gulf States, Hainan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Yemen, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, Caroline Is., Fiji, Gilbert Is., Marianas, Vanuatu AngolaBeninBotswanaBurkinaBurundiCameroonCaprivi StripCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoEritreaEthiopiaGabonGambiaGhanaGuineaIvory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLiberiaMadagascarMalawiMaliMauritaniaMozambiqueNamibiaNigeriaSenegalSierra LeoneSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabweChina South-CentralChina SoutheastGulf StatesHainanOmanSaudi ArabiaTaiwanYemenAssamBangladeshBorneoCambodiaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPakistanPhilippinesSri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamWest HimalayaNorthern TerritoryQueenslandWestern AustraliaFiji Cape VerdeComorosAndaman Is.Nicobar Is.Caroline Is.MarianasVanuatu
Native distribution of Ipomoea aquatica, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Cape Verde CVI
Caprivi Strip CPV
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Comoros COM
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Eritrea ERI
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Liberia LBR
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Nigeria NGA
Senegal SEN
Sierra Leone SIE
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Bangladesh BAN
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Nicobar Is. NCB
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Gulf States GST
Hainan CHH
Oman OMA
Saudi Arabia SAU
Taiwan TAI
Yemen YEM
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC
Fiji FIJ
Gilbert Is. GIL
Marianas MRN
Vanuatu VAN
Northern Territory NTA AUSTRALASIA
Queensland QLD
Western Australia WAU

Not drawn on the map: Gilbert Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 253 in flower of 292 examined

Peak flowering in Feb. Each bar is the share of Ipomoea aquatica observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 253 of 292 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 42 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Batatas abyssinica A.Rich.
  • Convolvulus adansonii Desr.
  • Convolvulus argyi H.Lév.
  • Convolvulus clappertonii Spreng.
  • Convolvulus incrassatus Wall.
  • Convolvulus javanicus Burm.f.
  • Convolvulus javanicus Spreng.
  • Convolvulus marginatus Desr.
  • Convolvulus rostratus Zipp. ex Span.
  • Convolvulus sepiarius Wall.
  • Convolvulus striatus Vahl
  • Convolvulus trianthus Spreng.
  • Convolvulus verrucosus (Blume) D.Dietr.
  • Ipomoea britteniana Rendle
  • Ipomoea clappertonii R.Br.
  • Ipomoea diversifolia (Choisy) Didr.
  • Ipomoea glenieii Thwaites ex C.B.Clarke
  • Ipomoea hastata L.
  • Ipomoea hellebarda Schweinf. ex Hallier f.
  • Ipomoea homblei De Wild.
  • Ipomoea laciniata (Dalzell) C.B.Clarke
  • Ipomoea marginata f. candida (Naik & Zate) Das Das & Lakshmin.
  • Ipomoea marginata var. stipulacea (C.B.Clarke) M.R.Almeida
  • Ipomoea maxima var. sagittata Verdc.

and 18 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.