Lagairai
Ipomoea pes-caprae · Beach morning glory
- Names in the book
- Katagkatag, Lagayray, Lampayog, Bagasoa, Kamigag, Daripay, Tagaray, Arodayday, Lambayog, Tag., Vis.; Lambayog, Iloc.
- Colours
- flowerpink, purple
- Native range
- Tropical beaches worldwide
- In the Philippines, per the book
- Very common on the seashore. Blooms in January.
- Family
- Convolvulaceae, filed in the book under Convolvulaceæ
- Printed as
- Ipomœa pes-capræ, Roth. (Convolvulus pes-capræ L. and Blanco.)
- Sources
- Page 175 on Project Gutenberg · Wikipedia
The plant today
Ipomoea pes-caprae, also known as bayhops, bay-hops, beach morning glory, railroad vine, or goat's foot, is a common pantropical creeping vine belonging to the family Convolvulaceae. It grows on the upper parts of beaches and endures salted air. It is one of the most common and most widely distributed salt tolerant plants and provides one of the best known examples of oceanic dispersal. Its seeds float and are unaffected by salt water. Originally described by Linnaeus, it was placed in its current genus by Robert Brown in 1818.
Excerpt from “Ipomoea pes-caprae” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 371 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 38 provinces, most often Davao del Norte (106), Palawan (20), Davao Oriental (15), Cebu (9), Batanes (8), Aklan (7), Zambales (7), Batangas (6), and 30 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 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
The dry, powdered leaves are dusted over bruises and ulcers. The entire plant is very mucilaginous and the bruised fresh leaves are applied like poultices to cancers and ulcerating tumors. In India the boiled leaves are applied locally in colic and in rheumatism; the juice is given internally in dropsy as a diuretic, the pounded leaves at the same time serving as a poultice to the œdematous parts.
Botanical description
A plant that creeps extensively, the stem taking root. Leaves with 2 well-marked lobules. Flowers rose-lilac color, in axillary panicles with long pedicels. Corolla very large, bell-shaped, the limb 5-angled and 5-nerved. Stamens 5, unequal in height. Stigma globose, marked by a line; later it divides in two. Seed vessel ovate, 2-celled, in each cell 2 downy seeds convex on one side, angular on the other.
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.
- Skin Anti-Aging Potential of Ipomoea pes-caprae Ethanolic Extracts on Promoting Cell Proliferation and Collagen Production in Human Fibroblasts (CCD-986sk Cells)
- A Medicinal Halophyte Ipomoea pes-caprae (Linn.) R. Br.: A Review of Its Botany, Traditional Uses, Phytochemistry, and Bioactivity
- Uncovering the effective substances and mechanism of Ipomoea pes-caprae against rheumatoid arthritis using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and targeted network pharmacology