''Ipomoea costata'', commonly known as rock morning glory, is an Australian native plant. It is found in northern Australia, from

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, through the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

, to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. Its

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

s provide a form of

bush tucker Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and used as sustenance by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora or fauna used for culinary or ...

to some

Aboriginal peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, known as bush potato, or (to the

Ngururrpa The Ngurrara and Ngururrpa are overlapping groupings of Aboriginal Australian peoples of the Great Sandy Desert, in the central Pilbara and southern Kimberley regions of Western Australia. Both groups are represented by various Aboriginal corpo ...

groups in WA), karnti.

Description

It is a prostrate or climbing perennial growing up to 3 m high, with purple-blue-pink flowers from February to November. Juvenile form is a vine, maturing into a woody-stemmed shrub with vine-like stems. Leaves are broad and leathery, 4-9 cm long. Tubers are rounded, 12-20 cm long by 5-18 cm wide, with a single plant potentially having up to twenty tubers.

Habitat

It occurs on sandy or rocky soils, often over limestone, and on spinifex sand plains in northern Australia.

Uses

It is the source of bush potato, a

food for Aboriginal people. Bush potatoes are cooked on the warm earth under coals, and are peeled when cooked.

Aboriginal names

In Central Australia, ''I. costata'' is also known to Aboriginal people by the following names: *

Alyawarr The Alyawarre, also spelt Alyawarr and also known as the Iliaura, are an Aboriginal Australian people, or language group, from the Northern Territory. The Alyawarre are made up of roughly 1,200 associated peoples and actively engage in local tra ...

: anaty * Anmatyerr: anaty or anek *

Eastern Arrernte Arrernte or Aranda (; ) or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte (Upper Aranda), is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are ...

: anatye *

Western Arrernte Arrernte or Aranda (; ) or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte (Upper Aranda), is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are A ...

: natye *

Pintupi The Pintupi are an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose traditional land is in the area west of Lake Macdonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. These people moved (or were moved) into the ...

: ala or yala * Warlpiri: karnti or paparda

References

External links

Alice Springs Town Council
Solanales of Australia Bushfood Australian Aboriginal bushcraft costata Eudicots of Western Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland {{WesternAustralia-plant-stub