BLACK CONVOLVULUS 139 



it has no botanical affinity with the Convolvulacecz. 

 It is a great climber and not without a certain 

 charm, though it is very troublesome in the 

 garden. 1 Its small but very numerous seeds are 

 very acceptable to various kinds of birds. 



1 u If this small Bindweede meeteth not with hearbes or 

 other things whereon to clime it riseth up but a little, and 

 leaneth downe againe unto the ground, otherwise meeting 

 with fit things, it will winde his long slender threddie 

 branches about them, to the height of three or foure foote or 

 more, perishing every yeare, and rising of the fallen seede 

 every spring, unlesse it be continually weeded out of the 

 garden/' declares Parkinson in his " Theatrum Botanicum. 

 The Theater of Plants," published in the year 1640. 



