Copse-bindweed is a slender annual vine in the buckwheat family that twines over fences and other plants. Native to temperate Eurasia, it has been introduced to the northeastern US, where it is easily mistaken for the native climbing false buckwheat. It is also called thicket bindweed.
Appearance
- Growth form
- An annual, twining vine with smooth, round stems that can climb 6–10 ft (2–3 m).
- Leaves
- Alternate, smooth-edged leaves shaped like an arrowhead or triangle, about 0.8–3 in (2–8 cm) long.
- Flowers
- Tiny flowers with five petal-like parts, white, pink, red, or greenish brown, borne in slender clusters 0.8–8 in (2–20 cm) long.
- Fruit
- A small black seedlike fruit, about 1/8 in (2.8–3.5 mm) long, wrapped in the dried flower parts, which grow cream to pale brown wings.
Look-alikes
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Roadsides
- Waste areas
- Dunes
- Shores of rivers and ponds
- Range
- Introduced in the US. In New England it is recorded from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, and it is also non-native in the New York City area. Because it is often confused with similar species, its true US range is still unclear.
- Preferred conditions
- Mostly grows in disturbed ground, and turns up in both wetlands and drier sites.
Name and classification
- About the name
- Formerly known as Polygonum dumetorum, and sometimes treated as a variety of climbing false buckwheat (Polygonum scandens var. dumetorum). The name "climbing false buckwheat" is also applied to this plant, which adds to the mix-up with Fallopia scandens.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
More species to explore
Record what you meet and build your own collection
Your photos are kept with their date and place, and you can fill regional albums one species at a time.