If you know your flowers, you recognize that the above blossoms could hardly be anything other than those of a morning-glory. However, everybody knows that morning-glories are herbaceous vines, not woody, small trees like this plant. Well, this is the Morning-Glory Tree, Ipomoea carnea. The genus Ipomoea is the morning-glory genus, so it's a real morning-glory, too.
Tree Morning-Glories are native to tropical America, often showing up in the Yucatan woods. Because of their beauty, ease of propagation and general toughness they deserve to be planted much more than they are. However, beyond tropical America the species is becoming a weed species threatening native plants. Tree Morning-Glories are prohibited in Florida and Arizona.
Medicinally, the shrub's roots are boiled to use as a laxative and to provoke menstruation, and the milky sap is used by traditional healers for skin diseases. However, it's dangerous when used wrong, for it depresses the central nervous system and relaxes muscles. It's regarded as poisonous to cattle.