Region: south America, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela; Central America, Panama to Mexico; north America, Texas to Florida; naturalized in many parts of Africa.
Habitat: moist or dry thickets at elevations around 900 metres; dry scrub, grasslands; on sandy or rocky soils, at elevations from 60 to 900 metres.
Content: indole alkaloids.
Use: ornamental; food, leaves cooked, as a vegetable or mashed and added to soups; leaves, withered in the sun and cooked; medicines.
BotanyHerb; annual; climber; slender; up to 3 m tall.
Stems: several; 1 to 6 metres long, scrambling over the ground or twining into other plants.
Flowers: bright blue.