Convolvulus arvensis

Native to Europe, Asia, Northern Africa, Macaronesia, and the Indian Subcontinent. Introduced and naturalized in North America.

Prohibited noxious weed and prohibited weed seed in Minnesota

Wet. Stream banks, river banks. Disturbed sites. Full to partial sun.

June to September

White, often pinkish tinged

Trailing, ½′ to 6½′ long

This is a perennial vine that rises on multiple stems from a deep, twisting, fleshy taproot, rhizomes, and shallow lateral roots. It often forms tangled mats.

The stems are slender and usually hairless, sometimes minutely hairy. They appear 4- or 5-angled due to the twisting of the stem. They are usually awkwardly climbing over adjacent vegetation or structures (scrambling), occasionally prostrate on the ground but not rooting at the tip (trailing). The stem grows in a spiral, at least toward the tip, curving around nearby plants (twining), allowing the stem to climb.

The leaves are alternate, ⅜″ to 2″ long, and 3 ⁄16″ to 1″ wide. They are on leaf stalks that are always more than, usually much more than, half as long as the midvein of the attached leaf. The leaf blade is variable in shape, triangular to oblong, often arrow-shaped. It is usually rounded, sometimes pointed, at the tip. The base is squared or heart-shaped. There are often basal lobes that are pointed, not squared or trapezoidal, and are directed outward or downward. The upper and lower surfaces may be hairless or have minute hairs. The margins are untoothed.

The inflorescence is a solitary flower or a cluster of 1 to 3 flowers rising from the leaf axils.

The flowers are funnel-shaped and ½″ to 1″ long and wide. They are on flower stalks up to 2⅜″ long. There are two small, 1 ⁄16″ to 5 ⁄16″ long, leaf-like bracts half way up the flower stalk, well below the base of the flower. There are 5 green, elliptic to almost round, ⅛″ to 3 ⁄16″ long sepals. There are 5 white, often pinkish tinged petals fused into a funnel-shaped tube. The outer margin of the corolla is very shallowly lobed. The flowers open in the morning and close by late afternoon.

The fruit is an round to egg-shaped, 3 ⁄16″ to ¼″ long capsule with 2 to 4 seeds.

Black bindweed (Fallopia convolvulus) is a shorter vine, no more than 40″ in length. The stems and leaves do not have a milky latex. The leaf stalk has an ocrea at the base. The flower is small, ⅛″ to 3 ⁄16″ long, and not showy. The fruit is an achene.

Common morning-glory (Ipomoea purpurea) has rounded, heart-shaped, not triangular, arrow-shaped, leaves. The basal lobes of the leaf blade are broadly rounded, not squared off or pointed. The flower is blue to purple.

Hedge bindweed (Calystegia sepium ssp. angulata) is a larger plant. The leaves are larger, 2″ to 4″ in length. The basal lobes of the leaf blade are trapezoidal. The bracts are much larger, are positioned at the base of the flower, and usually cover the calyx. The flowers are larger, 1½″ to 2¾″ long and wide.

Ivy-leaved morning-glory (Ipomoea hederacea) has 3-lobed leaves. The flower is blue to purple.

Low bindweed (Calystegia spithamaea) stem is erect, does not twine, and does not get over 20″ long.