7003.000 Ipomoea L.

Annual, biennial or perennial herbs, sometimes shrub-like or woody. Stems usually twining or prostrate, sometimes erect. Pseudostipules sometimes present. Leaves variable. Flowers axillary, solitary or in few-many-flowered cymes, sometimes in pseudoheads or enclosed in an involucre. Peduncles and pedicels usually present. Corolla usually actinomorphic, only slightly lobed. Sepals 5, usually unequal. Stamens 5, usually unequal, inserted near base of corolla tube. Ovary 2-3-4- or rarely 5-locular; style filiform. Stigmas 2, spherical. Capsule spherical to ovoid, dehiscent and 3-10-valved. Seeds usually 4, glabrous, pubescent or long-hairy.

Derivation of name: from Greek: ips meaning worm, homios meaning resembling, referring to the twining habitat

Worldwide: c.650 species in tropical and warm temperate zones

Zimbabwe: 12 cultivated taxa.