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IPOMOEA OBLONGATA

Also known as Turbina oblongata, the Ipomoea oblongata is commonly found in the grasslands and savanna through eastern South and subtropical Africa. One sees is as a stretched out creeper flat on the ground with huge perennial roots and magenta flowers that look like a morning glory.

It is a perennial herb with tuberous roots that grow up to 1 m long, and annual stems that grow up to 2 m long. I only notice them when the flowers are out.

The leaf blades vary in size and shape, being usually oblong or elliptic and both surfaces of the leaf are hairy. It is a popular plant used for diverse therapeutic uses in South African folk medicine, treating arthritis being one of them. It may be difficult for some overseas readers to believe, but it is also widely used to protect people from the Tokoloshe.

In Nguni mythology, the Tokoloshe is a dwarf-like water spirit that can be both mischievous and evil. It is believed that it can become invisible by drinking water or swallowing a stone. The problem with Tokoloshes is that they can occasionally be called upon by malevolent people to cause trouble for others. To this end, some believers actually place their beds on bricks so that they will be too high for the Tokoloshe to reach them at night.

27 thoughts on “IPOMOEA OBLONGATA”

    • While a lot of so-called folk medicine works as we might like it to, the efficacy of this plant has still to be scientifically proven. I find arthritis a real pain in the knuckles 🙂

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    • The ‘what’ counts for nothing; the ‘belief’ is everything. I met a young man collecting a certain type of flowers last year and filling bags with them. He explained that “in our culture we believe that if you burn these flowers and let the smoke drift through the house it will cleanse the house of all evil spirits.” One cannot argue with such a strong belief.

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  9. Though lovely, it seems a formidable plant to eradicate with that large tuber, best left in the wild, I reckon. Loved the folklore, reminds me of my childhood fear of an alligator under the bed!

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    • An alligator under your bed! I think most children like to make sure there isn’t something hiding under their bed at some stage. I remember checking under mine but can no longer recall what I thought it might have been. My children certainly did 🙂

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  10. A new Ipomoea! What fun, and how beautiful it is. I’d never heard of your myth, but I do recall reading about ‘someone’ or some culture elevating beds to prevent ‘something.’ These myths and primal fears take interesting — and related — forms.

    We have our own Ipomoea species, of course. I went a bit off the rails one day and composed a little song for them: you can see the song and photos of some of our species here.

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      • It always amazes me the resilience of flowers. Neighbors across the street died and the kids sold the house. The new owners came in and tore apart the front and back gardens. Mrs. Elmore planted tulips and daffodils when they moved there in the 50s … the rototiller missed a few daffodils in the corner and they still come up every Spring.

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    • What a laugh! Does that newspaper still exist? I used to see posters containing the most outrageous headlines decorating the lamp posts in Port Elizabeth – they took away the tedium of driving 🙂 🙂

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      • It still exists, and apparently is the most widely read print paper in the country!

        I also had some really good laughs at all the Tokoloshe’s antics that made headlines while I was waiting at traffic lights. It takes a special kind of journalist to report on such pranks with such seriousness…

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