Ipomoea muricata (L.) Jacq.

A glabrous or nearly glabrous twiner, containing a white milky juice. Stems herbaceous, annual, terete or angular, muricated. Leaves broadly ovate to orbicular, 7-18 by 6.5-15 cm, cordate at the base with wide or narrow sinus and broadly rounded lobes, acuminate at the apex with an acute or obtuse, mucronulate acumen; petiole 4-12 cm, muricated or smooth. Inflorescences axillary, one-to few-flowered; peduncles muricated, 3-6 cm. Pedicels 10-20 mm or longer, smooth, thickened towards the calyx, very thick in fruit. Bracts oblong, acute, ca 8 mm long, scarious. Sepals about equal in length; two outer ones oblong to ovate, ca 6-7 mm long, more or less plicate at the top and attenuate into a thick suberect awn, 4-6 mm long; three inner ones ca 7-8 mm long, obtuse or slightly emarginate, distinctly awned, awn ca 4 mm; sepals in fruit patent, afterwards reflexed. Corolla opening at night, glabrous, long funnel-to salver-shaped, pale bluish-purple, ca 5-7½ cm long, with a narrow, cylindrical, ca 3-6 cm long tube; tube widened above at the place of insertion of the filaments; limb funnel-shaped to rotate, 5-angular. Stamens and style not or scarcely ex-serted; stamens inserted in the upper part of the corolla-tube; filaments with some short hairs at the base. Ovary glabrous. Capsule ovoid, ca 18-20 mm high, 2-celled, 4-valved. Seeds 4, glabrous, black, ca 9-10 mm long.

A tropical and subtropical plant. In Nepal it grows between 900-1400 m altitude. It grows in dry soils. It can grow in arid places.

The tender leaves and shoots are cooked as a vegetable. The swollen fruit stalks are eaten. The young fruit are used for jam. The flowers are used as a vegetable.

Plants are grown from seed.