Polygonum convolvulus (Black bindweed)

Polygonum convolvulus L.

Polygonum convolvulus L. var. convolvulus

Bilderdykia convolvulus (L.) Dumort.

Fallopia convolvulus (L.) Á. Löve

Reynoutria convolvulus (L.) Shinners

Tiniaria convolvulus (L.) Webb & Moq.

Fallopia convolvulus (L.) A. Löve

Black bindweed, wild buckwheat, false buckwheat

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Caryophyllidae	Cacti, many other succulents, carnivorous plants, and leadworts
Order	Caryophyllales	Includes cacti, carnations, amaranths, ice plants, and many carnivorous plants
Family	Polygonaceae	Knotweed or smartweed family
Genus	Polygonum	Greek poly, “many,” and gonu, “knee,” for the swollen jointed stems
Species	convolvulus	From Latin convolvere, “to twine around”

About plant names...

Wild buckwheat is a European native. It is a vine that snakes along the ground or clambers over other plants or anything else it can latch onto, winding itself in a clockwise direction around supports. Plants are up to 3' (1 m) long. At points where leaves attach there is an ocrea, or sheath. Leaves are alternate and roughly triangular to heart-shaped, with smooth edges. The lower corners of each triangle are pointed inward toward the leaf petiole (stem). Leaves are ½-2" (1.5-6 cm) × ¼-1" (7-30 mm) wide. Flowers are small, ⅛" (4 mm) each, in long thin clusters, sort of weird-looking, greenish-white to greenish-pink.

9/18/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 7 × 4½" (17 × 11 cm) ID is uncertain

9/18/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 9 × 6" (22 × 14 cm) ID is uncertain

9/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 15 × 10" (39 × 26 cm)

Some similar species:

	*Convolvulus arvensis*	You are here Polygonum convolvulus	*Polygonum scandens*
Common Name	field bindweed	black bindweed	climbing false buckwheat
Plant	Vines are 20-79" (50-200 cm) high.	Vine up to 3' (1 m) long. At leaf nodes there is an ocrea.	Vines up to 20' (6.1 m) long. Stems are light green to bright red, almost hairless. Where leaves attach to the stem, there is a protective sheath, or ocrea
Flowers	Trumpet-shaped, ⅜-⅞" (1-2.5 cm) in diameter, and white or pale pink. Small bracts are separate from the flowers.	Small, greenish-pink to greenish-white, in racemes (bunches); individual flowers are ⅛" (4 mm) long, racemes are up to 2½" (6.3 cm) long	Racemes are 2-8" (5-20 cm) long, with small greenish flowers.
Leaves	¾-1¾" (2-5 cm) × ⅜-1" (1-3 cm) wide, either linear or shaped like arrowheads (sagittate).	Alternate, triangular or heart-shaped, lower corners of leaves aim *inward toward the petiole (leaf stem)*	Ovate, approaching sagittate (shaped like an arrowhead), up to 2" (5 cm) × 4" (10 cm). Leaf petioles are up to 1½" (3.8 cm) long
Fruit	Seeds ⅛" (3.2 mm) long, with two flat sides and a convex side, like an orange segment.	Three-sided, with a single dull black seed	Greenish, with white or pink borders.
Range/ Zones
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild

Online References:

Polygonum convolvulus on

Polygonum convolvulus on the Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide

Polygonum convolvulus on Ontario Wildflowers

Polygonum convolvulus on Wikipedia

Polygonum convolvulus on CalPhotos

Polygonum convolvulus on SEINet—the Southwest Environmental Information Network

References:

Newcomb, Lawrence, Morrison, Gordon (Illus.), Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, Little, Brown and Company, 1977, p. 322

Peterson, Roger Tory, McKenny, Margaret, Peterson Field Guides: A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North Central North America, Houghton Mifflin, 1968, p. 380

Note the climbing False Buckwheat (Polygonum scandens) overtaking the loosestrife. · 7/28/2009 · Near Nashua River Boat Ramp, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 30 × 44" (75 × 112 cm)

9/3/2009 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts
≈ 6 × 9" (14 × 22 cm) ID is uncertain

9/18/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 8 × 5" (19 × 13 cm) ID is uncertain

Polygonum convolvulus description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 16 Sep 2020.

9/3/2009 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts
≈ 5 × 8" (13 × 19 cm) ID is uncertain

9/3/2009 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts
≈ 9 × 6" (23 × 15 cm) ID is uncertain

9/3/2009 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts
≈ 6 × 9" (14 × 22 cm) ID is uncertain

Range:

About this map...