,,- Intriguing World of Weeds Field Bindweed1

LARRY W. MITICH2

INTRODUCTION Such a well-known weed has inevitably acquired a Field bindweed (Convolvulus ar­ host of common names, including devil's guts (1), vensis L. #3 CONAR) has an im­ creeping Jenny, European bindweed, hedge bells, com pressive array of survival tech­ lily, withwind, bellbine, laplove, sheep-bine, com-bind, niques which has enabled it to bearbind, green vine (22), possession vine, lesser bind­ become one of the world's 10 worst weed, and many variations on morning glory. weeds (9). Throughout the past century, its invasiveness has given DISTRIBUTION AND ECONOMIC IMPACT major impetus to the development of selective herbicides and of weed Field bindweed is found throughout the temperate science in general. zone, from lat 60°N to 45°S (9). It has reportedly be'1n found in the Himalayas at altitudes of 3048 M (10,000 ft) (10). It is considered a serious weed in 14 countries, TAXONOMY AND NAME HISTORY including most of contiguous Europe; a problem weed Pedanius Dioscorides, a Greek medical herbalist, in 19 countries, including the U.S., Canada, and the described field bindweed in the first century A.D. At Soviet Union; and it is present in at least 17 more ·that time the plant was known by a multiple of common countries (8). It is reported in 32 different world crops, names in every country around the Mediterranean. To principally com, small grains, sugarbeets, and vineyards the Greeks it was periklumenon ["circling plant" (29)], (9). or, amusingly, clymenon; to the Egyptians, turcum; and Field bindweed is native to Europe and Asia (9). to the Romans, it was volucrum majus (5), literally Bindweed seeds most likely arrived in the U.S. as meaning "a large worm that wraps itself in vines" (29). contaminant in farm and garden seeds (11), especially Its future generic name is hinted at by this Roman in grain seed. Some plants were introduced intention­ ancestor. ally (13); "wild morning glory" has been planted Convolvulus arvensis has retained the same botanic ornamentally-as groundcover or in hanging baskets-for name since Linnaeus introduced it in his Species Plan­ its trumpet-shaped, cream-colored or pink striped flow­ tarum in 1753. The tenacity of the name, matched by ers. that of the weed itself, is due in part to its appropriate­ In the U.S. the weed was first noted in Virginia in ness: convolvere is a Latin verb meaning "to roll to­ 1739 (14). By the early 1800s, bindweed was found all gether" (30) or "to entwine" (16). Arvens is Latin for along the eastern seaboard-from Virginia to Maine "of the field" (30). Thus Linnaeus' designation and our (11). Though its western migration may have been common name are essentially synonymous. hastened by the building of railroads (11), bindweed did The English word "byndweede" was used in print in not simply spread from the East; rather, seeds continued the mid-1500s and is surely older. Even at _this time, the to arrive whenever immigrants settled new areas, or plant was in disfavor; one of its earliest claims to fame whenever crop seed was imported. was this description printed in 1562: "Byndweed .. .is as At the outbreak of the Civil War, bindweed was it wer[e] an [imperfect] worke of nature learning to becoming quite troublesome, though it was still planted make lilies (19). occasionally as an ornamental. Perhaps the uncertain future of the Union inspired William Darlington (1782-1863) to make this comparison in 1859: ''We are 1No. 35 of the series "Intriguing World of Woocls." Contributions are told that incessant vigilance is the condition on which welcome and will be acknowlec1gec1. Send contributions to Larry W. Milich. alone the rights of freemen can be maintained ... I be­ 1bis article is a conclensation of L. W. Milich and G. B. Kyser, 1990, History anc1 taxonomy of field binc1weec1, Proc. Calif. Weec1 Conf. 42:55-57. lieve the farmer will_ f'md a similar condition annexed to 2Ext. Weec1 Sci., Dep. Bot., Univ. Calif., Davis, CA 95616. the preservation of his premises [from bindweed]" (3). 3Letters following this symbol are a WSSA-approvec1 computer cocle from Great Plains agronomists traced a "bindweed plague" Composite List of Weec1s, Revisec1 1989. Available from WSSA, 309 W. Clark St., Champaign, n. 61820. in 1877 to Ukrainian settlers who inadvertently brought

913 Weed Technology. 1991. Volume 5:913-915 MITICH: FIELD BINDWEED

the weed in wheat seed during the early 1870s (14). downward, becoming a secondary vertical root, and Most of the Midwestern and Plains states were infested sends out roots and shoots at the turning point (6). By by the end of the 1880s (11). Bindweed reputedly this means a single field bindweed plant can spread invaded the Pacific Northwest when an Oregon settler radially more than 3 min a growing season (6). The used bindweed as a cover crop in his orchard, much to rhizomes also can cover 25 m2 in a season ( 1). his neighbors' eventual regret (24). Bindweed seeds develop in round 0.6-cm pods (24). Bindweed plant parts were present in bricks used to An average field bindweed plant produces about 550 build the Jesus Vellejo adobe near San Francisco in seeds (1). Within 1 mo after forming, the seed coat 1838 (18), indicating that the weed existed in California matures and becomes imperv1ous to water (24). The relatively early. But by the time field bindweed began seeds can withstand silage, soaking, digestion (15), to attract serious attentj.on in the state (circa 1890), it heat, and fumigation with methyl bromide. They can was well enough established for Eugene W. Hilgard to remain viable in the stomachs of some migrating birds call it "the most dreaded of the perennial weeds" (7). for up to 144 h (17). Bindweed seeds planted experi­ By the end of the first quarter of the 20th century, mentally must be scarified by soaking· in concentrated field bindweed had been proclaimed California's worst sulfuric acid for 1 h (15). weed (21). At this time it also was reported as the worst In one study, an average emergence of weed in Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, and Nebraska, 1977 bindweed seedlings per hectare was and as a serious pest in the Dakotas, Iowa, Idaho, observed in a field from which bindweed Texas, Utah, Washington, and many other states, espe­ had been eradicated 20 yr earlier; 8 yr cially west of the Mississippi. later, there were still 119 seedlings per hectare (27). In a related study, 753 viable seeds per m2 of C. arvensis were found in GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS the upper 15 cm of soil after 2 yr of Field bindweed is a hardy perennial with arrow­ continuous cultivation following eradica­ 2 shaped leaves and trumpet-shaped flowers (28). Its infa­ tion, and 430 seeds per m after 6 yr (27). mous vines grow 0.3 to 1.8 m long and may run along It has been found that 50-yr old bindweed the ground or climb any available object. The vines, samples are 8% germinable, 54% imper­ however, are not the means by which bindweed does meable, and only 38% dead (27). most of its damage: it is a relatively poor competitor for light. Rather, its extensive root system competes effec­ USEFULNESS TO MAN tively for limited soil moisture (28). Most authors consider field bindweed neither a use­ The root system has both deep vertical roots and ful food nor a dangerous toxin. In India it is used as a shallow horizontal laterals (24). The vertical roots can purgative (9). Its seeds impart a disagreeable color and reach depths of at least 7 m (6). However, 70% of the taste to flour if ground with wheat. In the first century total mass of root structure occupies t!?:~ top 0.6 m of Dioscorides recommended drinking tea made from the soil (26); much of this is shallow laterals; which are not seeds for 40 d to cure spleen problems, weariness, and usually found deeper than 0.3 m (4). Experiments in the hiccups. However, he warned, it had the inconvenient early 1900s showed that ordinary bindweed root and side effects of causing one to urinate blood after the 6th 1 rhizome growth can reach 5600 to 11 200 kg ha- (2); day and making one permanently sterile after the 37th about 12% of this weight is food reserves (24). (5). Bindweed has numerous means of vegetative repro­ In India bindweed is used as a feed supplement for duction. Most parts of bindweed roots and rhizomes can livestock; one report indicates that bindweed has a produce adventious buds, and thus new roots and shoots higher percentage of protein than lucerne or cowpea, (2). Roots capable of budding are found to depths of 4.3 and that lactating ewes can maintain their body weight m (23). Fragments of vertical roots as small as 5 cm on bindweed feed (20). As a means of control, many can regenerate new plants. Although lateral roots are writers recommend allowing sheep to graze the foliage. not as regenerative as vertical roots or rhizomes (25), Hogs may be used to root up the succulent rhizomes, they serve as important propagative function: at 38 to though some authors suggest that bindweed may cause 76 cm from the parent plant, a lateral often turns gastric distress in hogs (12).

914 Volume 5, Issue 4 (October-December) 1991 WEED TECHNOLOGY

LITERATURE CITED Conf. 33:140-158. 16. Plowden, C. C. 1970. A Manual of Plant Names, 2nd ed. Philosophical 1. Allan, M. 1978. Weeds. 'lhe Viking Press, New York. Library, New York. 2. Bioletti, F. T. 1911. 1he extermination of morning glory. Calif. Agric. 17. Proctor, V. 1968. Long distance dispersal of seeds by retention in Exp. Stn. CiIC. 69. digestive tract of birds. Science 160:321-322. 3. Darlington, W. 18S9. American Weeds and Useful Plants. Orange Judd 18. Rosenthal, S. S. 1983. Field bindweed in California-extent and cost of & Company, New York. infestation. Calif. Agric. 37(9-10):16-17. 4. Davison, 1. G. 1970. 'lhe establishment of Convolvulus arvensis in a non-competitive situation. l'roc. 10th Br. Weed Contr. Conf. 1: 19. Simpson, J. A., ancfB.S.C. Weiner. 1989. The Oxford English Diction­ 352-357. - ary, 2nd ed. Clarendon Press, Oxford. S. Dioscorides, P. 1933. The Greek Herbal of Dioscorides. R. T. Gunther, 20. Singh, G. S. 1962. Utilization of weeds as cattle feed. I. Chemical Ed. Hafner Publishing Co., Inc., New York. composition and nutritive value of hirabnkhuri (Convolvulus arvensis). 6. Frazier, J. C. 1943. Nature and development of the root system of Indian 1. Dairy Sci. 15(4):146-153. Convolvulus arvensis. Bot. Gaz. 104:417-425. 21. Smiley, F. J. 1922. Weeds of California and methods of control. Calif. 7. Hilgard, B. W. 1891. 1he weeds of California. Calif. Agric. Exp. Stn. Dep. Agric. Monthly Bull. 11:2-3. Rep. 1890:238-252. 22. Spencer, B. R. 1957. Just Weeds. Charles Scribner's Sons, New Yolk:. 8. Holm, L. G., 1. V. Pancho, 1. P. Herberger, and D. L. Plucknett. 1979. 23. Stewart, G., and D. W. Pittman. 1924. Ridding the land of wild A Geographical Atlas of World Weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New morning glory. Utah Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. 189, Logan. York. 24. Swan, D. G. 1980. Field bindweed, L. Wash. 9. Holm,. L. G., J. V. Pancho, 1. P. Herberger, and D. L. Plucknett. 1977. Convolvulus arvensis 'lhe World's Worst Weeds. 'lhe University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu. State Univ. Coll. of Agric. Res. Center Bull. 0888. 10. Khoshoo, T. N., and U. Sachdeva. 1961. Cytogenetics of Punjab weeds. 25. Swan, D. G., and R. J. Chancellor. 1976. Regenerative capacity of field I. Causes of polymorphicity in Convolvulus arvensis. Indian J. Agric. bindweed roots. Weed Sci. 24:306-308. Sci. 31(4, supp.):13-77. 26. Timmons, F. L. 1941. Results of bindweed control experiments at the 11. Kiesselbach, T. A., N. F. Petersen, and W. W. Burr. 1934. Bindweeds Fort Hays Branch Experiment Station, Hays, Kansas, 1935 to 1940. and their control. Univ. Nebraska College of Agric. Exp. Stn. Bui. 287, Kansas Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. 296. Lincoln. 27. Timmons, P. L. 1949. Duration of viability of bindweed seed under 12. Kingsbury, 1. M. 1964. Poisonous Plants of the _United States and field conditions and experimental results in the control of bindweed Canada. Prentico-Hall, Inc., Englewood, Cliffs, N. 1. seedlings. Agron. J. 41:13()--133. 13. Pammel, L. H. 1912. Weeds of the Farm and Garden. Orange Judd 28. Wiese, A. F., and W. M. Phillips. 1976. Field bindweed. Weeds Today Company, New York. 7(1):22-23. 14. Phillips, W. M., and F. L. Timmons. 1954. Bindweed-how to control it. Kansas Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. 366, Manhattan. 29. Woods, R. S. 1944. 'lhe Naturalist's Lexicon. Abbey Garden Press, 15. Phillips, W. M. 1978. Field bindweed: the weed and the problem in Pasadena, Calif. Special Session on Field Bindweed. Proc. North Cent. Weed Control 30. Zimdahl, R. L. 1989. Weeds and Words. Iowa State Univ. Press, Ames.

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