Mile-a-Minute

Description:

Ipomoea cairica is a vining, herbaceous, perennial plant with palmate leaves and large, showy white to lavender flowers. A species of morning glory, it has many common names, including coastal morning glory, Messina creeper, Cairo morning glory, and railroad creeper. (Wikipedia). Not an Australian native, it has particularly rampant growth and is considered an invasive species. I spotted this plant climbing the branches of an orchid tree (Bauhinia variegata), and initially thought it was "blue morning glory" (Ipomoea indica... see link in notes). However, upon closer inspection, the most obvious differences are with its flowers and leaves. Mile-a-Minute has very distinctive leaves which are 5-7 finger-like lobes, and the flower, while still being the characteristic blue-pink-lavender colour, has a dark throat, although there is a rarer white-flowered variant of this species also. The second reference provides detail information on this and other similar Ipomoea species found in Australia.

Habitat:

Remnant native bushland along Mimosa Creek, at Mt. Gravatt Cemetery, Brisbane. The cemetery is adjacent to Toohey Forest Conservation Reserve, a woodland reserve of approximately 655 hectares.

Notes:

In Australian bushland, some species of morning glory develop thick roots and tend to grow in dense thickets. They can quickly spread by way of long, creeping stems. By crowding out, blanketing and smothering other plants, morning glory has turned into a serious invasive weed problem. Here's a spotting I made some years ago of blue morning glory (Ipomoea indica), and it has done just that!.... https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/20... Note the leaf shape and pale-throated flower, and how it differs from this spotting.