Convolvulaceae FAMILY

Merremia tuberosa

Edibility

0/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitClimber

Growth—

Grows best in a sunny position, preferring a well-drained soil^[1]. The plant has escaped from cultivation and become naturalized. The twining stems can climb high into the surrounding vegetation, smothering even tall forest canopies^{[2, 3]}.

Propagation

Seed - it can remain viable in the soil for many years^[2]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Merremia+tuberosa>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

[1]Encyclopedia of Tropical Plants - Identification and Cultivation of over 3,000 Tropical Plants — Ahmed Fayaz · Firefly Books Ltd.; New Zealand · 2011 · ISBN 978-1-55407-489 ↩︎A good photograph and terse but detailed information for over 3,000 species of tropical plants. An excellent reference.
[2]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.
[3]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
[4]Flora Malesiana Series 1 — Various · Nationaal Herbarium Nederiand, Universiteit Leiden branch · http://www.archive.org ↩︎A massive treatment of the plants of the Malaysian Archipelago. Much of it has been made available to download from the Internet
[5]Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants — http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/rfk/index.html ↩︎An online resource giving botanical information, and a little bit about plant usage, for over 2,700 species of plants found in the Australian rainforest.