During my blog's fallow phase, a few brave souls have continued to leave comments. I've just been moderating and publishing them. Turns out there were some interesting ones, but what really caught my attention was a message from Ron Kushner. Ron is an authority on all things Ipomoea - I am a mere dilettante. So when he politely lets me know that the seeds I received in good faith as I. pandurata, with their fabulously weirdy-beardy appearance, are in fact I. macrorhiza, I listen.
Just like the chuckle-inducing Corrections and Clarifications section in the Grauniad (sic), I am going to have to make a retraction. When I said "oh heck, here's mecha-meck", I was wrong. What I should have said is "oh heck, it's from Yucatan".
It seems that I. macrorhiza has a distinctly southerly distribution, being found on the coast in the south eastern states of the USA. One theory is that it was transported there from Mexico by First Nations people, possibly as a food source. I. pandurata is found much further north and, by inference, ought to be a lot hardier than the southern softie that is I. macrorhiza.
The proof, as Ron has pointed out, lies in the seeds. Compare and contrast:
Here's 'my' mecha-meck: an artisan-brewing, kimchi-gobbling hipster with splendid and extravagant whiskers:
The true mecha-meck is more of a designer stubble aficionado:
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| Ipomoea macrorhiza |
The true mecha-meck is more of a designer stubble aficionado:
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| Ipomoea panudurata (image courtesy of University of Missouri) |
I suppose this late onset revelation is actually a bit of a relief; the impostor's growth and winter survival was, let's face it, a big disappointment. Without reworking the tired Spartacus allusion yet again, I'd rather the true mecha-meck reveal itself and we can all get on with our lives.
On that note, in true one-step-forwards-two steps-back fashion, I must now throw myself on the tender mercies of East Coast USA rhizophiles. Say, can anyone provide me with seeds of the true mecha-meck?
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