Ipomoea cairica
Common name
pouwhiwhi, coastal morning glory, railway creeper
Family
Convolvulaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lianes & Related Trailing Plants - Dicotyledons
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
IPOCAI
Chromosome number
2n = 30
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – an interim threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017 . 2018. Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley. Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, SO
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand: Kermadec (Raoul, Macauley, Cheeseman Islands), Three Kings, North and Great Barrier Islands. Mostly local and the exact southern are now unclear due to this species cultivation well south of apparently indigenous populations, and the subsequently naturalisation from these plantings via garden waste and (sometimes) deliberate plantings. The most likely natural southern limit is the Waitemata Harbour though most literature regards Tiritirimatangi Island as the actual southern limit. Also widespread in Africa, Asia, Australia, western Central America and in many of the Pacific islands of Oceania on some of which it may be naturalised.
Habitat
Coastal. A local to sometimes abundant vine of dune systems, coastal scrub and cliff face vegetation, rubble slopes and mangrove (Avicennia marina subsp. australasica). Also an occasional urban weed found in waste land, rubbish dumps, car yards and hedges.
Features
Perennial rhizomatous vine. Stems cable like, usually glabrous (rarely minutely pubescent), initially ± smooth and reddish green to purple but maturing grey with the surface becoming conspicuously tuberculate. Leaves with petioles 20-60 mm long, usually falsely stipulate; lamina 30-100 mm long, palmately divided almost to base, ovate to orbicular in outline, 5-7-lobed, lobes lanceolate to elliptic or obovate with outermost lobes sometimes unequally 2-lobed, acute to obtuse, mucronulate. Inflorescences axillary, 1-several-flowered; peduncle 10-80 mm long; pedicels 10-30 mm long. Sepals 4.5-6.0 mm long, ovate, with outer sepals slightly shorter, obtuse to acute, mucronulate, glabrous. Corolla funneliform, purple, reddish-purple or white. Stamens and style included. Capsule c.10 mm long, ± globose. Seeds c.0.5 mm long, subglobose to ovoid, densely, shortly tomentose.
Similar taxa
Easily distinguished from the other Ipomoea indigenous to or naturalised in New Zealand by the palmately divided leaves.
Flowering
September - July
Flower colours
Red/Pink, Violet/Purple
Fruiting
September - August
Life cycle
Seeds are dispersed by wind and water (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Very easy from cuttings, rooted pieces and fresh seed. Inclined to become very aggressive and weedy, so is rarely cultivated. It makes an excellent sand binder and will tolerate extremes of habitat, though it is frost sensitive. In cooler areas if may die back to its root stock if frosted, only to resprout when local conditions warm.
Etymology
ipomoea: Worm-like, referring to coiled flower bud
cairica: Of or from Cairo (Egypt)
Where To Buy
Occasionally offered by specialist native plant nurseries.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (9 November 2011). Description adapted from Green (1994)
References and further reading
Green, P.S. 1994: Flora of Australia Volume 49, Oceanic Islands 1. Canberra, Australian Government Publishing Service
Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Ipomoea cairica Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/ipomoea-cairica/ (Date website was queried)