Bigroot morning-glory

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Bigroot morning-glory corolla and sepals

Bigroot morning-glory

Bigroot morning-glory leaf

bigroot morning-glory leaf

Morphology

Stem

Vine, trailing or twining, 16 inches to 16 feet long, nearly glabrous to sparsely and inconspicuously hairy; sap milky.

Leaves

Alternate, egg-shaped to heart-shaped, often fiddle-shaped, 1.2 to 4.8 inches long, .8 to 3.6 inches wide, glabrous to often soft-hairy beneath; margins entire; tip tapering to point; base deeply heart-shaped; stalk .4 to 3.2 inches long.

Inflorescence

Flowers, 1 to 7+ in loose cluster; stalk stout, stiff, 2 to 4+ inches long.

Flower

Showy; sepals 5, leathery, not of similar size and shape, ovate or oblong, .5 to .8 inches long, strongly overlapping, glabrous; tips blunt to broadly rounded; outer sepals usually shorter and narrower; corollas funnel-shaped, shallowly 5-lobed, 2 to 3.2 inches long, 2.8 to 4 inches wide, white, tube purplish-red to lavender within; stamens 5, unequal, .8 to 1.2 inches long.

Fruit

Capsule, egg-shaped, .4 to .6 inches long, glabrous; seeds 1-4, oblong, about 1/3 inch long, brown, surface hairy, densely woolly on angles.

Ecology

Habitat

Open disturbed areas, stream banks, woods, thickets, prairies, cultivated and fallow fields, pond and lake margins, ditches, roadsides; dry soils.

Distribution

East 1/3 of Kansas.

Practical Information

Toxicity

The roots have been reported to be mildly toxic.

Uses

Native Americans used the root as food. The root was also used medicinally to treat coughs, headaches, rheumatism, asthma, constipation, and abdominal pain.

Additional Notes