CONVOLVULACEAE (CONVOLVULUS FAMILY) 



323 



be broken up with the plow and hogs may be turned in with 

 snouts in working order for the purpose of turning out and 

 eating the succulent roots, of which they are very fond. Sheep 

 pasturing on infested ground will also keep leaf-growth down and 

 will starve the underground growth. 



HEDGE BINDWEED 

 Convolvulus sepium, L. 



Other English names: Great Bindweed, Bracted Bindweed, Hedge 



Lily, Rutland Beauty, Devil's Vine. 



Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

 Time of bloom: June to August. 

 Seed-time: Late July to October. 

 Range: Nova Scotia to Minnesota, southward to the Carolinas, 



Missouri, and Nebraska, 

 Habitat: Cultivated ground, fence rows, thickets, waste places. 



Nearly as obnoxious as the smaller Field Bindweed, and about 

 as hard to control ; its rootstocks, however, 

 are larger and not so brittle ; the trailing or 

 twining stems are three to ten feet or more 

 in length. Leaves smooth, long, triangular 

 halberd-shaped, the basal lobes diverging and 

 truncate; petioles slender, usually shorter 

 than the blades. Flowers solitary, about 

 two inches long, the corollas flaring funnel- 

 shaped, pink, with white stripes, or clear 

 white, lifted on slender axillary four-angled 

 peduncles, often five or six inches in length. 

 Just below the flower and overlapping and 

 concealing its five-lobed calyx is a pair 

 of large, heart-shaped bracts, which are 

 persistent and enfold the fruit. Capsule 

 globular and may contain four seeds, but 

 often only two or three are fertile; the 

 seeds are angular kidney-shaped, about an 

 eighth of an inch long, dark brown. They 

 retain vitality for several years. (Fig. Bi ^ ee f 5 (C 7 



225.) 



sepium) . 



