Kangkong
Ipomoea aquatica · Water spinach
- Names in the book
- English: Potato Vine, Swamp cabbage; Tagalog: Kangkong; Visayan: Tangkong
- Used for
- Constipation
- Colours
- flowerwhite, lilac
- Native range
- Tropics and subtropics of Asia, Africa and Australia
- Family
- Convolvulaceae
- Printed as
- Ipomea aquatica Torsk
- Sources
- Healing Wonders of Herbs (1985), page 95 · Wikipedia
The plant today
Ipomoea aquatica, commonly known as water spinach or kangkung, is a semi-aquatic, tropical plant grown as a vegetable for its tender shoots. I. aquatica is generally believed to have been first domesticated in Southeast Asia. It is widely cultivated in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and South Asia. It grows abundantly near waterways and requires little to no care.
Excerpt from “Ipomoea aquatica” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sa Tagalog
Ang kangkong (Ipomoea aquatica) ay isang halamang nabubuhay sa lupa at matubig na lugar at ginagamit bilang madahong gulay. Hindi alam ang tumpak na kalawakan ng sakop ng pagpapalawig nito dahil sa kadalian sa pagpapatubo nito. Karaniwan itong nagmumula sa mga maiinit na pook ng mundo. Kabilang sa mga karaniwang-ngalan nito sa wikang Ingles ang water spinach, swamp cabbage, water convolvulus, water morning-glory.
Sipi mula sa “Kangkong” sa Tagalog Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 228 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 37 provinces, most often Davao del Norte (61), Zamboanga del Norte (17), Metropolitan Manila (16), Davao del Sur (7), Negros Occidental (7), Bulacan (6), Negros Oriental (6), Batanes (5), and 29 more.
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1985 book uses it for
A record of home remedies from 1985, with the book's amounts and doses reworded. It is not medical advice.
- ConstipationBoiled leaves eaten with meals.Two cups of boiled leaves with meals.Page 19
Summarised from Herminia de Guzman-Ladion, Healing Wonders of Herbs (Manila: Philippine Publishing House, 1985), where this plant is shown as “Kangkong” on page 95. The book is in copyright, so its wording and photographs are not reproduced. Amounts are the book's, restated.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Impact of Pristine and Aged Tire Wear Particles on Ipomoea aquatica and Rhizospheric Microbial Communities: Insights from a Long-Term Exposure Study
- Potential impact of polyethylene microplastics on the growth of water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica F.): Endophyte and rhizosphere effects
- Polystyrene nanoplastics' accumulation in roots induces adverse physiological and molecular effects in water spinach Ipomoea aquatica Forsk