212 FLOWERS OF THE ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 



fodder. Sugar is derived from the sap. The leaves have been used 

 to adulterate tea. The Ash is laxative and bitter. The keys have 

 been pickled and used in salads. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



207. Fraxinus excelsior, L. Tree, with ashen bark, leaves smooth, 

 pinnate, with a terminal leaflet, plants dioecious, no calyx or corolla, 

 stamens in clusters in axils. 



Great Bindweed (Calystegia sepium, Br.) 



Though a northern plant there is no evidence that this species 

 is ancient, its present range being the Northern and Southern 

 Temperate Zones in Europe, Siberia, N. Africa, temperate N. and 

 S. America, Australia, and New Zealand. In Great Britain it does 

 not grow in Cardigan, Roxburgh, Linlithgow, E. Highlands, the 

 Northern Isles, but elsewhere it is general. It is found in Ireland. 



Great Bindweed is a typical inland species growing in almost every 

 hedge, and is common by the roadside, where it clambers over haw- 

 thorn and other hedgerow plants. Unlike the Small Bindweed, it 

 is not associated in general with cultivated ground, though it may 

 occur in the hedges enclosing cornfields. 



The rambling, climbing habit of Great Bindweed, which needs 

 the support of a hedge or similar aid to enable it to lead an aerial 

 existence, is one of its most striking features. It has a long white 

 creeping root, difficult to eradicate in gardens, hence the English 

 names. The stems are numerous, twining, twisted, striate or finely 

 furrowed, branched, the branches being alternate. The leaves are 

 arrow-shaped or angular below, acute, alternate, stalked, smooth. The 

 growing part revolves from right to left against the sun, revolving 

 in two hours. 



The flowers are white, bell-shaped, and large. The flower-stalks 

 are i -flowered, square-stalked, and the flowers are axillary. The 

 bracts or leaflike organs enclose the calyx, and are cordate, veined, 

 and purple. The flowers open for one day, and are not scented, but 

 are open in the moonlight. The corolla is plaited in the bud. The 

 calyx, which is 5-fid, is tubular. The limb of the corolla is scarcely 

 divided, and the seeds are angular, but rarely produced. 



The plant grows to a length of 6-10 ft. It flowers in July up till 

 September. It is perennial, increasing freely by division of the roots. 



The flowers are very large and conspicuous, but have no scent 

 and no path-finders, so that they are little visited by insects. They 



