Common Name: Purple Morning glory, Mysore argyreia. Tamil Name: Kanvalipoo
Purple morning glory is a climbing shrub native to India. It grows to height of about 4 feet, the plant is erect with few branches. It is mostly seen around rocky mountain sides of dry deciduous slopes of Western Ghat area. Occasionally seen in Anaikatti hills of Coimbatore. The simple leaves are arranged in an alternate manner, the leaf margin is entire. The lower side of the leaf is slightly hairy. Unlike most of other the Argyreia species in this region; most parts of the plant are glabrous. The leaf measure around 6 cm in length. The leaf shape is oblong and the leaf tip is rounded. The inflorescence is mostly in the form of an axillary few flowering cyme. The flowers are dark purple in color and tubular. The five teethed calyx is green in color. The flower tube measure around 5 cm. Purple morning glory can be identified other Argyreia in Western ghat from the color of the flower. In other Argyreia species, the flower color come in various shades of pink with some darker patches in the flower tube. In this plant the entire flower has dark purple color. The fruit is in the from of berry. This is a native species with ornamental potential.
