Since Mark Reed mentioned he got seed in both directions with this cross I started attempting it today.
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That sounds cool! I’d love to hear how that works out for you.
It’s a long shot as there are strong hybridization barriers among Ipomoea, but Mark has shown (and an old Russian paper said the same thing) that seeds at least can get obtained.
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Did you have any success with this?
No. But after this one day attempt it rained and I never got to try again. Hopefully try again this year, waiting for pandurata to flower again.
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How are these hybridizations working? Where is the barrier? Is it no crossing between sections (Or even stricter)?
Cuz if Mark Reed got Ipomoea batats x Ipomoea pandurata to make true hybridized seed, that means it’s a wide jump across sections!
Check this phylogenic tree I put together, in yellow is section batatas (Sweet Potato containing I. batatas) & in green is section pes-carpe (Bigroot Morning Glory contain I. pandurata)
If he actually got such a wide cross to work, then what’s stopping us from crossing every species??? There clearly is a mechanism behind the hybridization barriers & is that mechanism phylogenically relevant or no?
Check out this older Ipomoea phylogenic Tree. Notice how I. pandurata & I. batatas belong to the outdated subgenus Eriospermum. The 2 big clades are sister to each other.
There’s also this phylogenic tree with less species, seems to also place Section Pes-caprae with Section Batatas & Section Murucoides all sister to the not edible Section Quamoclit. Perhaps these are the 2 big major clades & would explain why non-edible Ipomoea purpurea x Ipomoea batatas fails to from fertile hybrids? Does this make sense @Ascentropic ?
I also wonder if Water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) x Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas) is possible? The only Ipomoea I have is Water Spinach, @Ascentropic We have gotta trade bro, as I want to callaborate on crossing these species with you (Hopefully we can eventually start a GTS Sweet Potato Distribution project!). Also we gotta find Ipomoea leptophylla the other edible bigroot sister species to I. pandurata.
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An interesting thought to consider: Ipomoea batatas is probably more of a species complex than a single species, so any one specific cultivar might have exactly the right genes to be fertile with another Ipomoea that sweet potatoes normally aren’t fertile with.
In other words, a) you probably can’t say for sure that if it works for one sweet potato cultivar, it’ll work for any other, and b) it’s probably always worth trying!
Polyploidy is weird and opens up crazy passageways. 
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Exactly! Those closely related species have been introgressed into the genome of some I. batatas. This is why thoroughly hybridized landraces are better equipped to handle a winder genetic jump than inbred heirlooms. Landraces are genetically more plastid, thus more receptive to foreign species pollen.
Same thing has been demonstrated with Vigna spp. & Cucurbita spp.. Same concept generally applies to most (If not all) plants.
Indeed! Often times this leads to bigger roots/fruits/leaves or bigger plants in general (Likey due to higher Ploidy having larger cells). Potato (Solanum tuberosum) & Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) are great examples, I’m sure same thing happend with sweet potatoes (Even tho diploid species can be just as large, imagine if we doubled the chromosome of those too!).
Just don’t get me started about Brassica, Ploidy can theoretically reach 2n = ~500!
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Oh, interesting! I never thought about larger ploidy meaning larger cells! Is that pure theorizing on your part, or have you read about that in a scientific paper? (I know you’re fantastic at doing research, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you have a source.)
You can buy Ipomoea leptophylla seeds here:
That’s where I bought mine! It’s super de duper drought tolerant and supposed to taste pretty decent, so I had to buy seeds. I sowed mine last year, and none have sprouted yet, but . . . I keep hoping!
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I’ve heard it only taste good if harvested early & surely not when the roots have gotten too large (Mostly due to texture issues).
Here’s Forager’s Sam Thayer’s page on it.
Yeah, I’m inclined to think it’s not the tastiest root in the world, but it sounds decent enough as a survival food, and it’s that drought tolerant, so I neeeeeeeed it.
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Might also be worth checking it’s direct phylogenic sister species Ipomoea leptophylla which also makes edible roots when young & tender.