Rare morning glory blossoms in Bluffton
BLUFFTON -- A patch of a type of night-blooming morning glory rarely spotted in South Carolina has been discovered thriving on a site in Bluffton being cleared for construction of a house.
Botanists last sighted the shell midden morning glory in the mid-1990s. Before then, no one had reported seeing the plant since the 1860s, when Bluffton doctor and naturalist Joseph Hinson Mellichamp spotted the plant.
The plant, related to the sweet potato, has a large tuberous root. American Indians cultivated it for food as long as 4,000 years ago, said Patrick McMillan, curator of Clemson University's herbarium and a specialist in endangered species. The plant's flowers are pinkish, and its vines have wrinkly leaves with soft white hairs on the back.
The shell midden is so called because it can be found in America Indian shell middens or garbage dumps. Its botanical name -- ipomoea macrorhiza -- translates loosely as "large-rooted morning glory," McMillan said.
Beaufort horticulturalist Daniel Payne, owner of Naturescapes, discovered the plant growing on a construction site after Bluffton officials asked him to help create a landscaping plan for town hall last summer. While looking around for plants native to the area, Payne noticed the healthy morning glory patch "running all over the ground." Payne dug up and potted 40 or 50 plants.
"Nobody knew it was there, but thankfully it survived due to benign neglect."