Ipomoea aquatica is a semiaquatic, tropical plant grown as a leaf vegetable. It is found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, although it is not known where it originated. This plant is known in English as Water spinach, River spinach, Water morning glory, Water convolvulus, or by the more ambiguous names Chinese spinach, Swamp cabbage and Kangkong in Southeast Asia. Occasionally, it has also been mistakenly called kale in English, although kale is a strain of mustard belonging to the species Brassica oleracea and is completely unrelated to water spinach, which is a species of morning glory. It is known as phak bung in Thai, rau muá»âng in Vietnamese, trokuon in Khmer, kalmi shak in Bengali, and kangkung in Malay and Indonesian. In the Philippines, a variety of Kangkong is grown in canals dug during the American Occupation after the Spanish-American War, while another grows on land and is called Chinese Kangkong. I. aquatica grows in water or on moist soil. Its stems are 2ââ¬â3 metres (7ââ¬â10 ft) or more long, rooting at the nodes, and they are hollow and can float. The leaves vary from typically sagittate (arrow head-shaped) to lanceolate, 5ââ¬â15 centimetres (2ââ¬â6 in) long and 2ââ¬â8 centimetres (0.8ââ¬â3 in) broad. The flowers are trumpet-shaped, 3ââ¬â5 centimetres (1ââ¬â2 in) diameter, usually white in colour with a mauve centre. The flowers can form seed pods which can be used for planting.
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