Beautiful Yet Harmful - The Gairo Morning Glory
With their unique funnel-shaped and elegant purple blossoms that bloom densely throughout the year, the flowers of the Gairo Morning Glory (Ipomoea cairica) are beautiful and captivating to the eye! Yet, beneath its charming exterior, the Gairo Morning Glory is an infamous invasive alien species. Due to its strong adaptability and rapid growth, it can quickly occupy entire woodlands, posing a serious threat to local native species.
The Gairo Morning Glory is a perennial climbing herbaceous vine in the Genus Ipomoea of the Family Convolvulaceae. Its leaves are palmate, resembling an animal's paw, and usually have five to seven lobes, hence its literal name "Five-clawed Golden Dragon" in Chinese.
Although its flowers have a unique shape, it is often mistaken for the Annual Morning-glory (Ipomoea nil) due to their similar funnel-shaped flowers. However, they are actually two different species. The biggest distinction lies in the colour of their flowers. The Gairo Morning Glory has pale purple flowers, while the Annual Morning-glory has light blue flowers. In addition, the leaves surrounding the flowers are also different. The leaves of the Gairo Morning Glory are palmately lobed, whereas those of the Annual Morning-glory are trilobed. Therefore, it is not hard to distinguish between the two with just a little bit of attention!
Is It Good or Bad?
The Gairo Morning Glory is native to North America. In Hong Kong, it is considered an invasive species, as it grows rapidly under full sunlight and in well-drained environments, and adapts to various soil types, leading to it being widespread, across almost all local lowland environments, from sandy shores to urban parks. It is a highly invasive weed that impedes the growth of native species and affects local biodiversity. Moreover, as it is a climbing plant, its extensive growth can cover other plants, preventing them from photosynthesising, which hinders their growth and may even lead to death.
Due to its ornamental value and strong climbing ability from the unique shape of its flowers and leaves, the Gairo Morning Glory is often used for vertical greening or as ground cover plants despite it being harmful to native ecosystems. Additionally, in daily living applications, the entire Gairo Morning Glory plant has medicinal value and can be taken internally or topically, and its chemical components are also widely used by scientists in the development of drugs, pesticides, etc.