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| Online Flora of the Maltese Islands by Stephen Mifsud |
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Ipomoea batatas (Sweet potato vine) |
Ipomoea batatas (CONVOLVULACEAE.)
Images for this profile are taken from the Maltese Islands after year 2000.
Website launch: Oct-2002
Taxonomic update: Aug-2026
Code update: Jul-2026 |
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| Nomenclature and General Information |
Species name : |
Ipomoea batatas(L.) Lam.
Published in Tab. Encycl. Méth. Bot. 1: 465 (1793) |
Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.) |
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Plant Family : |
Convolvulaceae Juss. (The BindWeed Family)
24 species from the Convolvulaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands. | English name(s) : | Sweet potato vine |
Maltese name(s) : |
Patata Ħelwa |
Status for Malta : |
Casual or accidental alien. Species that was introduced in Malta rather recently and normally it is short-lived
or resticted to small populations for a short time, without becoming widespread or invasive. |
Frequency : |
Very Common Common Frequent Scarce Rare Very rare Extinct |
Growth form : |
Germination type [info]: Dicotyledon
Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: Macro-Phanerophyte ( high trees usually over 5 m high ) |
Legal Protection : |
Not legally protected till the last update of this website (22/Aug/2025) |
Red List (1989) : |
Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands |
Flowering Time : |
April – June |
Colour of Flowers: |
White |
Toxicity: |
Mildy toxic, can cause adverse conditions if consumed in large quantities |
Name Derivation : |
Ipomoea: Resembling a large worm for the twining stems climbing on trees and walls. (Latin origin)
batatas: ()
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Planting in rural areas : |
Cannot be planted in the wild (rural areas) since the species may be invasive (see ERA guidelines) |
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Description, Habitat and Distribution | |
Botanical Description |
Plants prostrate or climbing with tuberous roots, perennial. The stems usually somewhat succulent, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves variable, from cordate to ovate, entire, dentate or often deeply lobed, 5-10 cm long, glabrous or pubescent. Flowers absent in some varieties, frequent in others, in few-flowered cymes or sub-umbellate-cymose. Sepals oblong, the outer acuminate and cuspidate, (8-) 10-15 mm long, mostly pubescent or only ciliate. Corolla with a lavender to purple limb and darker throat, white in some varieties, 4-7 cm long. Fruits rarely formed, ovoid, glabrous. | |
Habitat in Europe |
Cultivated for its edible tubers (sweet potatoes) in parts of S. Europe where it is warm enough for the plant to grow
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Preferred habitat in Malta |
Abandoned fields, field margins, valley sides.
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Distributional range |
S. Europe
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Native region outside Europe |
Tropical America
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Distributional maps from various sources |
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Occurrences in Europe
(from Flora Europaea till 1993) |
Introduced in the Azores, Greece, Spain (incl. Andorra but excl. the Balaerics), Portugal
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Occurrences in Europe
(from Euro+Med Checklist till 2024)
Country codes
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[Az aAz(F J L M P S T) Bl(I) Ca(C F G P T) cGr cHs Hs(S) Li Lu Ma Md(M P) cMo cRf(C E) cRm Si(S) cUk(K)]
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| Links & Further literature
(0 papers) |
Google Web |
Google Images |
Google Scholar |
Research Gate |
Wikipedia |
JSTOR |
GBIF |
Med Checklist |
Cat. of Life |
EoL |
IPNI |
World Flora Online |
Plants of the World Online |
Vienna Virt. Herb. |
RBGE Herbarium |
KEW Herbarium |
MNHN |
Garden Database |
IUCN |
TROPICOS |
Kindly Email if there are papers and publications about local
studies or information about this species to be included in the list above.
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| Species Images (0 images) | |
No images of Ipomoea batatas are available. If you can share your own images of this species with this website, please do so by using the image upload form below. Credits are given to the authors.
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Sales and Donations
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Sales of seeds of wild plant from Malta: Seeds of selected wild plant species may be available for academic studies, research purposes, or personal use. Please note that not all species can be supplied or exported. Availability is subject to seasonal seed production, stock levels, and applicable regulations, including Maltese legislation and CITES requirements where relevant. Protected and endemic species cannot be sold (at least without the relevant environmental permits).
How it works: First, submit a quotation request by completing the Online Quotation Form (link provided on the right side of this table). Once your request has been reviewed, you will receive confirmation regarding seed availability, export eligibility (where applicable), pricing, and any transport charges. Payments are accepted by Revolut, bank transfer (IBAN), or PayPal only; credit and debit card payments are not accepted.
Please note that local orders are currently not being accepted. Seek Maltese nurseries and NGOs for local orders.
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Online Quotation (Seeds)
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Atlas Flora Europaea
GBIF Distribution Map
WFO Distribution map
