G2 BINDWEED. 



spreading. The fruit is a globose pointed capsule, with from 

 one to three cells, each containing one or two large roiuidish 

 seeds. Plate 5, fig. 2, (a) the calyx ; (b) the stamens ; (c) the 

 pistil. 



The great Bindweed is a perennial plant, a native of most 

 parts of Europe, and growing plentifully in this country in 

 hedges and moist woods. It flowers in July and August. 



The name is derived from convolvuJo, to entwine. It is some- 

 times called bear-bind, withe-wind, and hedge-bells, and is a 

 great ornament to our hedges in autumn, exhibiting large, 

 showy, white flowers in great profusion. 



There are two other species of convolvulus indigenous to this 

 country. The C. Soldanella, which grows on sandy sea-shores, 

 distinguished by its prostrate stem, kidney-shaped leaves, and 

 rose-coloured flowers ; and the C. arvensis or small Bindweed, 

 which is known by its creeping root penetrating very deep into 

 the soil, prostrate twining stems, and rose-coloured, yellowish, 

 or white flowers. The latter is found on the borders of most 

 corn-fields, flowering in June and July. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — The Sea Bindweed has 

 been long known as an acrid purgative. This quality resides in 

 a milky juice, which exudes from the plant on being wounded. 

 A decoction of from half a drachm to three drachms of the 

 dried leaves was directed for a dose. It was also used as an 

 antiscorbutic, and hence the name Scottish scurvy-grass. The 

 great Bindweed, however, here figured, seems to be the most 

 powerful. The expressed juice of the stem and roots, when 

 dfiied, concretes into a resin, which is proposed by Withering as 

 a substitute for scammony, in the dose of twenty or thirty 

 grains, and is recommended by Halley and Dr. Good as a 

 hydragogue purgative in dropsies. 



In a recent work on Medical Botany, it is stated, that "twenty 

 pounds of the fresh root, afford a watery extract of one pound 

 twelve ounces, from fifteen to twenty grains of which act freely 

 on the bowels as a drastic purgative, and gripe but .little. A 

 pill, composed of one ounce and a half of the extract, two 

 drachms of aloes, and one drachm of ginger, act with certainty 

 and ease, in doses of ten grains, and luight be substituted for 

 compound extract of colocynth."* 



* Stevenson and Churchill's Med. Botany, Vol. I. 



