Morning glory seeds – used to grow the morning glory plants The morning glory seeds are used to grow morning glory plants. The name morning glory is generic name given to around 9000 species of plants belonging to the family Convolvulaceae. As suggested by the name the flowers of the morning glory plant open in the morning so that they can be pollinated by morning insects like butterflies and bees and also hummingbirds. The flowers bloom usually for one morning and die during the afternoon. There are new flowers which bloom every morning.

The color of the flowers starts to fade approximately two hours before the flower starts to wither visibly. The morning glory plants grow well in full sunlight during the day and are adaptable to messy soil. These plants are cultivated perennially in the tropical regions and are grown annually in colder climates. There are some species of morning glory which can tolerate cold and can be grown throughout the year even in cold countries.

The morning glory plant is also known as asagao. A very popular species is called Danjuro and has flowers which are brownish in color. The morning glory was first recognized in China for the medicinal usage, because the morning glory seeds can be used as a laxative. The morning glory seeds were used for cultivation in Japan in the 9th century for ornamentation. The ornamental property of the morning glory plant became very popular in the Edo period. The morning glory seeds and other parts of the plant were used by priests in the Aztec civilization for the hallucinogenic properties.

The species called Ipomoea alba was used by the age old meso-american civilization to turn the latex obtained from the tree Castilla elastica and guayule in order to produce rubber balls which bounced. The sulfur present in the juice of the plant works to vulcanize rubber. This process was used 3000 years before Charles Goodyear discovered it. Hence one can say that the morning glory seeds which are easily available at nurseries and even on the internet can be used to grow the plant of morning glory for ornamentation, or for its various derivatives which can be used as medicines, or recreational drugs.