IPOMOEA ROBERTSIANA

This member of the Convolvulaceae family was given this name by Alfred Barton Rendle in 1901. It is found in north-eastern South Africa, growing in a well drained sandy soil with some water and lots of sun. The caudex can grow to five centimetres in diameter, the entire plant to 120 centimetres in length. The flowers are magenta. The generic name Ipomoea is derived from the Greek ἴψ, ἰπός; íps, ipós, meaning 'woodworm', and ὅμοιος; hómoios, meaning 'resembling'. It referring to their twining habit. The species name might be after Robert Hermann Schomburgk, 1804–1865, a German-born explorer for Great Britain who carried out geographical, ethnological and botanical studies in South America and the West Indies or Rober Brown, 1773-1858, a Scottish botanist and paleobotanis? It does not say in the original description.