Ipomoea cairica var. cairica

Glabrous, perennial twiner, root tuberous. Stems up to 1.8 m long, smooth or warty. Leaves ovate or orbicular in outline, 30-100 mm wide, deeply palmate, lobes lanceolate, 5-7; basal lobes often bifid; petioles 20-60 mm long; pseudostipules-like smaller leaves. Inflorescence 1-few-flowered; peduncle 5-70 mm long; pedicels 12-20 mm long. Sepals subequal, subovate, green with pale scaly margins; often minutely warty outside, 4-7 mm long. Corolla broadly funnel-shaped, 30-60 mm long; tube contracted near base, mauve with darker centre. Flowering time all year. Fruit a subglobose capsule, 8-12 mm wide. Seeds 5-6 mm long, black, subglobose, tomentose, long white hairs along edges.