THE BINDWEED 425 



beauty of its waxen-looking flowers, which make 

 their appearance in June and July, can hardly be 

 exaggerated. The roots, which are bitter, are, I 

 believe, still used as a vegetable tonic, and also 

 as a cure for rheumatic affections. I have seen 

 this plant growing in profusion by the banks of 

 the river Test in Hampshire, and it also grows 

 moderately in some of the Wiltshire valleys. 



Despite the annoyance which the bindweed is 

 capable of inflicting upon the gardener, it is none 

 the less one of the brightest and most delicately- 

 coloured of all our British wild-flowers, and, it 

 may be also added, one of the sweetest-scented. 

 It grows everywhere, and, as a weed, is most 

 difficult to eradicate ; its growth is exceedingly 

 rapid, and if but the smallest portion of its long 

 and shining white root is left in the soil, it is 

 sufficient to speedily produce a strong and vigorous 

 plant ; indeed, it may be said to be well-nigh in- 

 eradicable, since its roots are endless. It is known 

 by a variety of names, the most common amongst 

 the country-folk being that of withywind. Of the 

 Convolvulaceae, of which the bindweed is a repre- 

 sentative species, and all of which are more or 

 less beautiful, there are several varieties, the 

 large white kind, so well known in our hedgerows 

 and gardens, being one. The black bryony is 

 also at times called the black bindweed, and, 

 indeed, during the earlier period of its growth it 

 is not very dissimilar from the true bindweed of 

 the hedgerow, though its leaves are larger than 



