Ipomoea cairica L. Sweet
Vernacular name: Railway Creeper, Mile-a-Minute Vine (Hindi: रेल बेल)
Species Name: Ipomoea cairica (L.) Sweet
Family: Convolvulaceae
Habit: Perennial twining climber.
Stem: Slender, vigorous, glabrous, twining and trailing; rooting at nodes when in contact with soil.
Leaf: Alternate, palmately 5–7-lobed, 4–12 × 4–15 cm, long-petiolate, glabrous, cordate at base.
Flowering: Throughout the year, chiefly during rainy and warm seasons.
Flowers: Axillary cymes with few to many flowers; corolla funnel-shaped, pinkish-purple to lavender with darker throat, 4–7 cm across; stamens 5, epipetalous; ovary superior, bicarpellary.
Fruit: Globose capsule, 1–1.5 cm diameter, 4-valved; seeds 4, dark brown, pubescent.
Uses
- Common ornamental climber grown for rapid coverage of fences, walls, and trellises.
- Useful for erosion control and ground cover, though it can become invasive in disturbed habitats.
- Leaves and other parts have limited traditional medicinal uses in folk medicine, though extracts of leaves are used to treat rashes, inflammations, fever and rheumatism.
- Plant has antioxidant, anti-inflammation and neuroprotective properties.
- Plant also has bioactive properties.
