Black Bindweed

(Polygonum convolvulus)

Black Bindweed (Polygonum convolvulus L.)

Alien: Native of Europe and Asia.

Identification: Plant a climbing or trailing vine. Flowers greenish white or pink, small, star-shaped, and nearly sessile to the stem. Fruit with small or absent paperlike wings. Stem rough, climbing on other plants or objects, sometimes tinged with red. Leaves broad, arrowhead-shaped, with a distinct petiole, and indented at the base. Stem swollen and sheathed at the junction of the leaf petiole and stem.

Distribution: Throughout North America.

Habitat: Black Bindweed is a weed found in a variety of disturbed habitats including empty lots and fields.

Flowering period: July to September.

Similar Species: Black Bindweed is very similar to Climbing False Buckwheat. However the flowers of Climbing False Buckwheat are in more elongate racemes and the seeds have large, paperlike wings.