2 FAMILIAE WILD FLO WEES. 



name is derived from the Latin verb convolve, to twine 

 around or about, and is very descriptive of the general 

 growth of the plant, as it does not, like many climbers, 

 support itself by tendrils, but the whole plant is twisted 

 round the object that supports it, ordinarily a stalk of 

 corn or some such upright form having a rather small 

 diameter; it will never, for instance, be found twining 

 round a gate-post or other such bulky thing. Very fre- 

 quently, when found on hedge-banks, it rambles amidst 

 the grass and other coarse herbage, and climbs but little, 

 if at all. It is sometimes called the small bindweed ; 

 small, because there is another species, the especial foe 

 of the gardener, having much larger flowers, of which 

 also we shall give an illustration in our series; and 

 bindweed, from this habit of twining round and matting 

 the other plants in its neighbourhood together. The 

 specific name arvensis is derived from the Latin word 

 arvum, signifying a corn-field. The field convolvulus, the 

 plant now more immediately under consideration, is one of 

 the characteristic flowers of the corn-field, though it is 

 found very commonly in other arable ground, waste places, 

 and hedge-banks. Its blossoms, veined with delicate pink, 

 are very sensitive to sunlight, and expand readily to the 

 beams of light and warmth, but remain closed whenever 

 the sky is cloudy and overcast a peculiarity that gave 

 us a good deal of trouble in making our drawing, as 

 the most beautifully-expanded blossoms, when picked and 

 brought home, closed almost directly. All the various 

 kinds of convolvulus present this same feature ; they 

 therefore become, in spite of the beauty of many of the 

 garden species, quite unfit for the flower-vase or any kind 

 of floral decoration. The large deep blue or purple blossoms 



