Leaf type: Palmate, lobbed, fingered
Leaf margin: Smooth
Phyllotaxis: Whorled
Colour: Green, dark red to (almost) black, yellowish
Life cycle: Perennial
Leaf (upper side)
Growth habit & biology
Ipomoea batatas is a perennial, creeping or climbing plant. Its shoots can grow over four meters long.
The edible leaves vary in shape depending on the variety; they can be heart-shaped, kidney-shaped, lobed, triangular, or arrow-shaped, and in color, ranging from green through yellowish and reddish to nearly black or green-red marbled.
Distribution & habitates
Its native range is in Central America (source). As a crop, Ipomoea batatas is primarily cultivated in warm regions, though it is now occasionally grown in Germany as well. In Central Europe, it is also used as an annual ornamental plant, for example in parks, gardens, planters, and on traffic islands.
I discovered the plants shown here on the beach promenade in Évian on Lake Geneva (France).
Botany
Ipomoea batatas belongs to the Convolvulaceae family. The plant commonly known as the sweet potato is only very distantly related to the potato.
Sweet potato vs. “true” potato
The “true” potato (Solanum tuberosum), a member of the nightshade family, is easily distinguished from the sweet potato. It grows upright, and its flowers consist of five petals that are more or less fused together. Neither its leaves nor its berries are edible.
