Ubi kates or mile-a-minute vine (Ipomoea cairica) is a species of plant in Convolvulaceae, herbaceous perennial, creeping or climbing, palm leaf, trumpet flower, large and showy, white to lavender in color, growing in forest shrubs, farmlands and abandoned land.
I. cairica has a slender cylindrical stem, up to 10 meters long with rounded roots and a lignescent base. Leaves have stalks 2-6 cm long. The leaves are oval to circular, 3-10 cm long and 6-9 cm wide. Each is divided into 5-7 segments, lanceolate, ovoid or elliptical, intact and pointed at the tip and base.
The inflorescences have peduncles 12-20 mm long. Sepals 6-8 mm long, ovate and pointed. The crown is funnel-shaped, 4-6 cm long and purple. Stamens and stylus do not extend beyond the crown. Ovaries are hairless. The fruit is a round capsule, 1 cm in diameter and 1-2 seeds.
The mile-a-minute vine grows to an elevation of 2250 meters. Most parts of the plant are edible including the leaves and roots. The leaves are crushed and drunk to cure rashes and fever. Plants in some areas are also considered to have antibiotic properties.
TAXON
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Solanales
Family: Convolvulaceae
Tribe: Ipomoeeae
Genus: Ipomoea L. in Sp. Pl.: 159 (1753)
Species: Ipomoea cairica (L.) Sweet in Hort. Brit.: 287 (1826)
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS
Convolvulus cairicus L. in Syst. Nat., ed. 10. 2: 922 (1759)
Exocroa egyptiaca Raf. in Fl. Tellur. 4: 80 (1838)
HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS
Batatas cavanillesii (Schult.) G.Don in Gen. Hist. 4: 262 (1837)
Batatas pulchella (Roth) Bojer in Hortus Maurit.: 226 (1837)
Batatas senegalensis (Lam.) G.Don (1837)
Convolvulus bellus Spreng. in Syst. Veg., ed. 16. 1: 590 (1824)
Convolvulus cavanillesii (Schult.) Spreng. (1824)
Convolvulus digitatus Roxb. in Fl. Ind. 2: 65 (1824)
Convolvulus longiflorus Heyne ex Steud. in Nomencl. Bot., ed. 2. 1: 409 (1840)
Convolvulus lupulifolia Griff. in Not. Pl. Asiat. 4: 284 (1854)
Convolvulus lymphaticus Vell. in Fl. Flumin.: 70 (1829)
Convolvulus lymphaticus Vell. in Fl. Flumin. 2: t. 47 (1831)
Convolvulus mucronatus G.Forst. in Fl. Ins. Austr.: 14 (1786)
Convolvulus pendulus (R.Br.) Spreng. (1824)
Convolvulus quinquelobus Vahl in Symb. Bot. 3: 32 (1794)
Convolvulus tuberculatus Desr. in J.B.A.M.de Lamarck, Encycl. 3: 545 (1792)
Convolvulus vittatus Zipp. ex Span. in Linnaea 15: 340 (1841)
Ipomoea bouvetii Duchass. & Walp. in Linnaea 23: 752 (1851)
Ipomoea buaralap Montrouz. in Mém. Acad. Roy. Sci. Lyon, Sect. Sci. 10: 238 (1860)
Ipomoea cairica var. appendiculata Anasuya, Shivam., Murali, Thriveni & Amruthesh in Pl. Sci. Today 12(3): 2 (2025)
Ipomoea cairica f. bicolor Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 443 (1891)
Ipomoea cairica var. gracillima (Collett & Hemsl.) C.Y.Wu in Rep. Yunnan Trop. Subtrop. Fl. Res. Inst. 1: 120 (1965)
Ipomoea cairica var. hederacea Hallier f. in Bull. Herb. Boissier 6: 546 (1898)
Ipomoea cairica var. indica Hallier f. in Annuario Reale Ist. Bot. Roma 7: 231 (1898)
Ipomoea cairica var. lineariloba (Hillebr.) O.Deg. & Ooststr. in Fl. Hawaiiensis 307: [s.p.] (1938)
Ipomoea cairica var. obtusata Hoehne in Anexos Mem. Inst. Butantan, Secç. Bot. 1(6): 77 (1922)
Ipomoea cairica var. pinnatifidopalmata Kuntze (1891)
Ipomoea cairica var. semine-glabro (Blatt. & Hallb.) Bhandari in Fl. Indian Desert: 253 (1978)
Ipomoea cairica var. uniflora Hoehne (1922)
Ipomoea cavanillesii Roem. & Schult. in Syst. Veg., ed. 15[bis]. 4: 214 (1819)
Ipomoea digitifolia Sweet in Hort. Brit., ed. 2: 372 (1830)
Ipomoea frutescens Choisy in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 9: 386 (1845)
Ipomoea funaria Larrañaga in Escritos D. A. Larrañaga 2: 78 (1923)
Ipomoea gracillima (Collett & Hemsl.) Prain in J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 63: 111 (1894)
Ipomoea jacquinii Regel in Index Seminum (LE, Petropolitanus) 1856: 27 (1856)
Ipomoea palmata Forssk. in Fl. Aegypt.-Arab.: 43 (1775)
Ipomoea palmata var. gracillima Collett & Hemsl. in J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 28: 96 (1890)
Ipomoea palmata var. indica (Hallier f.) Rendle in D.Oliver & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Trop. Afr. 4(2): 179 (1905)
Ipomoea palmata var. semine-glabro Blatt. & Hallb. in J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 26(2): 546 (1919)
Ipomoea pendula R.Br. in Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holland.: 486 (1810)
Ipomoea pentaphylla Cav. in Icon. 3: 29 (1795)
Ipomoea pulchella Roth in J.J.Roemer & J.A.Schultes, Syst. Veg., ed. 15[bis]. 4: 212 (1819)
Ipomoea pulchella var. arachnosperma Hallier f. in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 28: 48 (1899)
Ipomoea quinqueloba (Vahl) Willd. in J.J.Roemer & J.A.Schultes, Syst. Veg., ed. 15[bis]. 4: 208 (1819)
Ipomoea rosea var. pluripartita Hassl. in Trab. Mus. Farmacol. 21: 98 (1909)
Ipomoea senegalensis Lam. in Tabl. Encycl. 1: 464 (1793)
Ipomoea stipulacea Jacq. in Pl. Hort. Schoenbr. 2: 39 (1797)
Ipomoea stipulacea f. pluriflora Meisn. in C.F.P.von Martius & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Bras. 7: 288 (1869)
Ipomoea stipulacea f. uniflora Meisn. (1869)
Ipomoea stipulata Jacq. (1797)
Ipomoea tuberculata (Desr.) Roem. & Schult. (1819)
Ipomoea tuberculata var. abbreviata Choisy (1845)
Ipomoea tuberculata var. lineariloba Hillebr. in Fl. Hawaiian Isl.: 316 (1888)
Ipomoea tuberculata var. trichosperma Hillebr. (1888)
Ipomoea tuberculosa Desf. in Tabl. École Bot.: 74 (1804)
Ipomoea vesiculosa P.Beauv. in Fl. Oware 2: 73 (1819)
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VERNACULAR NAME
Afrikaans: Wildetrompettertjie
Austria: Kairo-Prunkwinde
Brandfort: Wildetrompettertjie
Chinese (simplified): 五爪金龙
Chinese (traditional): 槭葉牽牛 - 五爪金龍 - 番仔藤
Czech: Povijnice káhirská
Danish: Kairopragtsnerle
Dutch: Kairowinde
English: Mile-a-minute vine, Railway Creeper, Gairo Morning Glory, Coastal morning glory, Common Morning Glory, Cairo Morning Glory, Messina Creeper, Coast Morning-Glory, Mile-A-Minute, Musina Creeper
Finnish: Kaironpäivänsini
French: Ipomée du Caire
German: Kairo-Prunkwinde
Hawaiian: Koali 'ai
Hebrew: לפופית כפנית
Hindi: Neeli Bel नीली बेल
Indonesian: Ubi kates, Sri pagi
Italian: Campanella del Cairo
Japanese: モミジヒルガオ - タイワンアサガオ - モミジバヒルガオ - モミジバアサガオ
Kannada: ಬೆಕ್ಕಿನ ಹೆಜ್ಜೆ ಬಲ್ಲಿ - ಕೊಟ್ಟಿ ಹೆಜ್ಜೆ ಬಲ್ಲಿ
Lithuanian: Penkiaskiautis sukutis
Malayalam: കൊളാമ്പിപൂ
Manpuri: ꯁꯤꯉ꯭ꯒꯥ
Marathi: गरवेल - भोवरा
New Zealand: Coastal morning glory
Portuguese: Campainha, enrola-semana
Russian: Ипомея каирская
Spanish: Campanilla palmeada
Swedish: Kairopraktvinda
Thai: ผักบุ้งรั้ว
Zulu: Ijalamu, Umaholwana, Ihlambe
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