2. Convolvulus arvensis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 153. 1753.
[I W]
Field bindweed, liseron des champs
Convolvulus ambigens House; Strophocaulos arvensis (Linnaeus) Small
Perennials, rhizomatous. Stems decumbent or trailing, to 10+ dm, glabrous or glabrate. Leaf blades elliptic, oblong-elliptic, ovate, ovate-deltate, or ovate-lanceolate, 10–100 × 3–60 mm, length 1.6–3.3 times width, surfaces glabrous or abaxial puberulent. Inflorescences: flowers solitary or in 2–3-flowered cymes; bracts elliptic, linear, or obovate, 2–3(–9) mm. Flowers: sepals: outer elliptic, 3–4.5 mm, inner suborbiculate to obovate, 3.5–5 mm; corolla white, sometimes pink-tinged, campanulate, 12–25(–30) mm, limb 5-angled. Seeds tuberculate. 2n = 48, 50.
Flowering Apr–Oct. Fields, disturbed sites, roadsides; -30–3000 m; introduced; Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask.; Ala., Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.Mex., N.Y., N.C., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Utah, Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis., Wyo.; Europe; Asia; introduced widely in temperate and mild tropical places.
Convolvulus arvensis is a major agricultural pest and is difficult to control. Numerous medicinal uses have been attributed to C. arvensis (D. F. Austin 2000).
SELECTED REFERENCE Austin, D. F. 2000. Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis, Convolvulaceae) in North America—From medicine to menace. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 127: 172–177.
