Sweet Potato Ivy Plants

• Sweet potato plants are part of the Convulvulaceae family. RUNSTUDIO/Photodisc/Getty Images

  Sweet potato vine plants are known scientifically as Ipomoea batatas, and are members of the Convulvulaceae family. Sweet potato vine plants are commonly referred to as "Pink ivy," although they are technically not ivy at all. The plants are notable for their root vegetables, which are known as sweet potatoes and are commonly consumed all throughout the world.

Description

• Sweet potatoes are perennial plants with tuberous roots, and generally are cultivated as annuals. The foliage is almost black in color, and is lobed and shaped similarly to hearts. The leaves are also palmately veined and either lobed or angular. The leaves can be either purplish or green. The sweet potato vine plant produces funnel-shaped flowers that range in color from light purple to lavender, and are shaped like trumpets. The stems are narrow and generally prostrate.

Cultivation

• Sweet potato vine plants thrive when they are grown under full sun, in soil that is both well drained, slightly acidic and moderately fertile. Partial shade is also acceptable for sweet potato vine plant cultivation. The plants, which bloom during the summer and the autumn, call for regular watering, and it is important to make sure not to water them excessively. Sweet potato vine plants can be propagated by softwood cuttings or seed. Some potential afflictions for the plants are wilt, charcoal rot, thread blight, stem rot, fungal leaf spots, rust and white blister.

Food Uses

• Sweet potato vine plants are cultivated primarily for their tubers, which function as vegetables and are frequently eaten dried, baked fried or boiled. Sweet potatoes are also often ground up into flour to prepare bread, biscuits and pastries. The leafy tops of the tubers are also commonly served as vegetables, such as in the southeastern Asian nation of Malaysia. The plants are also used as farm animal feed.

Folk Medicine

• Sweet potato vine plants also have traditionally been used as folk medicine. The plants have been used to induce lactation in pregnant women, and also as a pregnancy tonic, by the Uala peoples of Hawaii. Other medicine applications for which the plants have been used include asthma, nausea, fever, tumors, bug bites, burns, splenosis, upset stomach, renosis and convalescence.