Fallopia convolvulus, the black-bindweed or wild buckwheat, is a fast-growing annual flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae native throughout Europe, Asia and northern Africa.Flora of NW Europe: Fallopia convolvulusFlora of China: Fallopia convolvulusFlora of Pakistan: Fallopia convolvulusBlamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C., 1989. Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. .
Synonyms include Polygonum convolvulus L. (basionym), Bilderdykia convolvulus (L.) Dumort, Fagopyrum convolvulus (L.) H.Gross, Fagopyrum carinatum Moench, Helxine convolvulus (L.) Raf., Reynoutria convolvulus (L.) Shinners, and Tiniaria convolvulus (L.) Webb & Moq. Other old folk names include bear-bind, bind-corn, climbing bindweed, climbing buckwheat, corn-bind, corn bindweed, devil's tether, and wild buckwheat.
Description Black-bindweed is a herbaceous vine growing to long, with stems that twine clockwise round other plant stems. The alternate triangular leaves are 1.5–6 cm long and 0.7–3 cm broad with a 6–15 (–50) mm petiole; the basal lobes of the leaves are pointed at the petiole. The flowers are small, and greenish-pink to greenish white, clustered on short racemes. These clusters give way to small triangular achenes, with one seed in each achene.Phil Wilson & Miles King, Arable Plants – a field guide: Black-bindweed The flowers have 5 sepals, the 3 outer ones are larger and show a keel. It has 5 stamens and the fruit grows to 4 mm long.Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012. Webb's An Irish Flora. Cork University Press.
While it superficially resemble bindweeds in the genus Convolvulus there are many notable differences; it has ocrea (stipule-sheath at nodes), which Convolvulus does not; and Convolvulus has conspicuous trumpet-shaped flowers while Black-bindweed has flowers that are unobtrusive and only about 4 mm long.
Taxonomy One of the species named by Carl Linnaeus in the Polygonum genus in 1753 was Polygonum convolvulus. It has been moved many times since then, but in 1970 it was placed in Fallopia by Áskell Löve. Along with its genus it is part of the Polygonaceae family. Fallopia convolvulus has 25 synonyms, including eight homotypic synonyms.
Table of homotypic synonyms Name Year Notes Bilderdykia convolvulus 1827 Fagopyrum carinatum 1794 nom. illeg. Fagopyrum convolvulus 1913 Helxine convolvulus 1837 Polygonum convolvulus 1753 Polygonum infestum 1796 nom. illeg. superfl. Reynoutria convolvulus 1967 Tiniaria convolvulus 1846
Distribution and habitat Fallopia convolvulus grows most commonly on disturbed or cultivated land, in northern Europe typically on warm, sunny, well-drained sandy or limestone soil types, but in hotter, drier areas like Pakistan, on moist shady sites. It ranges from sea level in the north of its range, up to altitude in the south in the Himalaya.
Cultivation and uses The seeds are edible, and were used in the past as a food crop, with remains found in Bronze Age middens. The seeds are too small and low-yielding to make a commercial crop, and it is now more widely considered a weed, occurring in crops, waste areas and roadsides. It can be a damaging weed when it is growing in a garden or crop, as it can not only damage the plants around which it twines, but also clog the machinery used to harvest a given crop. It is also an invasive species in North America.
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