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Antigonon leptopus
Polygonaceae FAMILY

Antigonon leptopus

Antigonon leptopus

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial Climber
GrowthFast

Prefers a fertile, well drained soil in a sunny position[1]. A soil that is too rich in nitrogen will result in rank growth and poor flowering[2]. The plant is a prolific seed producer, the seeds being spread by water and wild animals. It often escapes from cultivation. It grows well in disturbed areas and is well adapted to dry coral cliffs and their derived soils. It tolerates drought by defoliation and regrows strongly after rain. It can completely smother native plants in the wet season, out-competing vines and understorey plants. Leaves dry out and drop during the dry season providing fuel for damaging fires[3].

Propagation

Seed - Cuttings are very easy[3]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Antigonon+leptopus>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Tropical Ornamentals; A Guide — Whistler. W. Arthur. · Timber Press Inc. Oregon. · 2000 · ISBN 0-88192-448-2 ↩︎An excellent little guide to some of the more commonly cultivated ornamental plants of the Tropics, often giving some information on the plants other uses.
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk — http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html ↩︎A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands.
  4. [4]Flora of Guatemala — Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark · 1946 - 1976 · http://www.archive.org/ ↩︎A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/
  5. [5]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
  6. [6]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.