{"id":4231,"date":"2021-12-18T11:03:35","date_gmt":"2021-12-18T19:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/?post_type=pal&p=4231"},"modified":"2024-04-11T10:07:20","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T17:07:20","slug":"ipomoea-pes-caprae-on-a-brazilian-beach","status":"publish","type":"pal","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/ipomoea-pes-caprae-on-a-brazilian-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"Ipomoea pes-caprae on a Brazilian beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can you confirm the identity of this plant growing on the northeastern coast of Brazil? I\u2019m told it is called batata-da-praia,\u00a0or batata-do-mar (beach or sea potato). Does that mean it\u2019s edible?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is Ipomoea pes-caprae<\/em><\/a>, probably the subspecies brasiliensis<\/em>, given the location. It is pantropical, found along the beaches of the tropical regions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. (It produces air-filled seed capsules that float and drift<\/a> in water, contributing to its wide distribution.)<\/p>\n

Common names in English include railroad vine (referring to the \u2018tracks\u2019 created by its stoloniferous habit of spreading along the ground\u2019s surface, sometimes over 100 feet), goat\u2019s foot (translation of the botanical species name, given for the hoof-like leaf shape), beach morning glory (since it is in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae), and beach hops (because of the vining habit).<\/p>\n

Cooked roots, stems, and leaves have been eaten in small quantities as a famine food, and it has a history of medicinal uses. However, it is not a major food source like its cousin, the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas<\/em>). Toxic Plants of North America<\/em><\/a> (Burrows & Tyrl, 2013) considers this species of Ipomoea<\/em> to be of toxicological concern.<\/p>\n

Ipomoea pes-caprae<\/a>, <\/span>Plant identification<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can you confirm the identity of this plant growing on the northeastern coast of Brazil? I\u2019m told it is called batata-da-praia,\u00a0or batata-do-mar (beach or sea potato). Does that mean it\u2019s edible?     This is Ipomoea pes-caprae, probably the subspecies brasiliensis, given the location. It is pantropical, found along the beaches of the tropical regions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. (It produces air-filled seed capsules that float and drift in water, contributing to its wide distribution.) Common names…<\/p>\n

Continue reading Ipomoea pes-caprae on a Brazilian beach<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","keyword":[1149,386],"class_list":["post-4231","pal","type-pal","status-publish","hentry","keyword-ipomoea-pes-caprae","keyword-plant-identification"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal\/4231"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/pal"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=4231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}