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Water Spinach🌸
Ipomoea aquatica
ヨウサイ（クウシンサイ・空心菜）
A perennial (annual in temperate zones) in the morning-glory family, native to tropical Asia. Called 'kūshinsai' ('hollow-heart vegetable') for its hollow stems. A staple vegetable in Southeast Asia — garlic stir-fried water spinach is a beloved dish. In Japan, mainly cultivated in Okinawa and used as a heat-tolerant summer leaf vegetable. Related to morning glory, producing white to pale-purple funnel-shaped flowers.
Identification Points
- ✓Hollow stems, prostrate or semi-erect
- ✓Alternate ovate to lanceolate leaves
- ✓White to pale-purple funnel-shaped flowers, morning-glory-like
Habitat
Cultivated (fields, wet margins); tropical Asia
Season
June to October (harvest)
Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf shape
Ovate
Growth form
Vine
Evergreen/Deciduous
Deciduous
Flower color
White
Habitat
Cultivated
Phylogenetic Positionヒルガオ科 →
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Solanales > Convolvulaceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous to Paleogene
Sources & References
AI-generated, needs verification