Americanized Field Bindweed Gardens: Fragrant Bloom on Frightful Sites

Summary: Americanized field bindweed gardens always reduce ground reflection and surface runoff, and never crop yields and species diversity, on frightful sites.

closeup of field bindweed's flower and foliage; Red Butte slopes, northern Salt Lake County, north central Utah; June 18, 2009: Andrey Zharkikh (andrey_zharkikh), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

Americanized field bindweed gardens achieve what weeds accomplish as ground reflection-abating, surface runoff-absorbing ground covers on problem soils and unpopular sites and as resourceful weedy rivals in croplands, orchards, pastures and vineyards.

The perennial trailing, twining vine native to Europe belongs with five other weedy members of the Convolvulaceae family of morning glory-related herbs, shrubs, trees and vines. The Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey and New Mexico state governments consider field bindweed a weed. The Canadian and Mexican federal and the North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming state governments likewise deem it an unwelcome weed.

Field bindweed, introduced into New England in 1739 and naturalized in western Canada by the 1890s, endures additional Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan provincial sanctions.

Heart- to kidney-shaped, long-stalked, 0.35- to 0.87-inch- (9- to 22-millimeter-) long, 0.14- to 0.39-inch- (3.5- to 10-millimeter-) wide cotyledons flourish atop stems reddening near soil levels.

Arrowhead-shaped, round-tipped, stalked first leaf stages get frost tolerances to 17.6 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 8 degrees Celsius) and 17.72- to 23.62-inch- (45- to 60-centimeter-) deep roots. Alternate-arranged, arrowhead-shaped to triangular, long-stalked, mature, round-tipped, veined, 0.79- to 2.36-inch- (2- to 6-centimeter-) long, 0.79- to 1.38-inch- (2- to 3.5-centimeter-) wide foliage has smooth margins. The foliar stalks incline from counterclockwise-twisting, hairless stems, frost-tolerant to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 degrees Celsius), on slender, trailing, 22.97-foot- (7-meter-) long, twining, twisted vines.

Americanized field bindweed gardens juggle cordlike, creeping, white, 98.42-foot- (30-meter-) long, 29.53-foot- (9-meter-) deep underground stems called rhizomes and flowering stages within six weeks of germination.

Field bindweed, commonly named barbine, corn bind, corn lily, cornbine, creeping Jenny, devil's guts, European bindweed, European glorybind and greenvine, keeps March through November bloom times.

Inflorescences called racemes line up one flower, or two to four flowers, atop same-sized stalklets on central, four-sided stalks linked to leaf-to-stem attachment angles called axils. They maintain funnel-shaped, perfect, regular, white to pink, 0.59- to 0.79-inch- (1.5- to 2-centimeter-) long flowers, each 0.79 to 1.18 inches (2 to 3 centimeters) across. They need one pistil, two leaflike bractlets, five stamens, five fused 0.59- to 1.18-inch- (1.5- to 3-centimeter-) long petals and five fused 0.12-inch- (3-millimeter-) long sepals.

Americanized field bindweed gardens offer dry, egg-shaped, explosive, one- to four-seeded, two-celled, 0.08- to 0.16-inch- (2- to 4-millimeter-) long capsules 10 days after pollinating one-day blooms.

Perennial field bindweed, commonly named hedge bells, laplove, lesser bindweed and small-flowered morning glory, produces 500 bumpy, dull, egg-shaped, gray-brown, three-sided seeds with 50-year in-soil viabilities.

Temperatures between 41 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit (5 and 40 degrees Celsius) in the top 0.79 inches (2 centimeters) of soil quicken field bindweed seed germination. Field bindweed, described by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778) and named Convolvulus arvensis (twining fields), releases 1,763.7 pounds (800 kilograms) of seeds. Rooted, 1.97-inch (5-centimeter) rhizomes serve 25 shoots, within four months, alongside 0.12- to 0.19-inch- (3- to 5-millimeter-) long, 0.03- to 0.12-inch- (0.7- to 3-millimeter-) thick seeds.

Americanized field bindweed gardens transform troublesome soils and troubling sites through pink-blooming hedge bindweed, red-blossoming morning-glory, purple-flourishing water spinach, white-flowering field bindweed and yellow-blooming water spinach.

Field bindweed's flowers may open as white, pink-tinged or pink; Bozeman, Gallatin County, southwestern Montana; June 8, 2007: Matt Lavin, CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

closeup of field bindweed's flower and foliage; Red Butte slopes, northern Salt Lake County, north central Utah; June 18, 2009: Andrey Zharkikh (andrey_zharkikh), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/zharkikh/6659591399/

Field bindweed's flowers may open as white, pink-tinged or pink; Bozeman, Gallatin County, southwestern Montana; June 8, 2007: Matt Lavin, CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/plant_diversity/5258214884/

For further information:

"Convolvulus arvensis L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/8500005

Dickinson, Richard; and Royer, France. 2014. Weeds of North America. Chicago IL; London, England: The University of Chicago Press.

"Field Bindweed: Convolvulus arvensis." Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide.
Available @ https://oak.ppws.vt.edu/~flessner/weedguide/conar.htm

Linnaeus, Carl. 1753. "1. Convolvulus arvensis." Species Plantarum, vol I: 153. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358172

Modzelevich, Martha. "Convolvulus arvensis, Corn Bind, Lesser Bindweed, Hebrew: חבלבל השדה, Arabic: ضيبأ دادح." Flowers in Israel.
Available @ http://www.flowersinisrael.com/Convolvulusarvensis_page.htm

Weakley, Alan S.; Ludwig, J. Christopher; and Townsend, John F. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Edited by Bland Crowder. Fort Worth TX: BRIT Press, Botanical Research Institute of Texas.