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Black Bindweed

Black Bindweed

Fallopia convolvulus

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How common: Common

Alien species

Black Bindweed is a one‑year twining plant that climbs through other plants or sprawls along the ground. It is common on disturbed ground such as fields, gardens, roadsides and waste places. Its stems twist around supports and can form loose mats up to about a metre long.

Did you know?

  • Despite its name, it is not a true bindweed with big trumpet flowers; its flowers are tiny and greenish‑white.
  • The ripe seeds are dull black and three‑sided.

About the species

Identification

Slender annual climber, usually up to 1 m long. Stems are ridged and a little rough, often branching near the base, twining around other plants. Leaves 2–8 cm, heart‑ to arrow‑shaped with sharp basal lobes and a pointed tip. Small clusters of 2–8 greenish‑white flowers sit on short stalks where the leaves meet the stem and at shoot tips. Later they form small dull black, three‑sided seeds about 4 mm long. Unlike true bindweeds with large white or pink trumpets, this species has only tiny greenish flowers and hard angular seeds. Flowers in Finland from July to September.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

yards and roadsides

Flowering

Jul–Sep

About the habitat

Open, disturbed soil: arable fields, gardens, verges, ditches, shores, waste ground and rocky patches; from dry to moist sites. Common from southern Finland northwards to Peräpohjola; rare in northern Lapland.

Sources

Photo: Patrick Hacker, CC BY 4.0 https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6273774498

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki leviäimet, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38238

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki versot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38238

Text: Pinkka: Pieni maatalouslajintuntemus - Puuvartiset, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38238

Text: Pinkka: IPS-153 Flora of Subarctic Europe - Comarum-Frangula, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38238

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiertotatar

See also