The Great Bindweed (Convolvulus sepium) of the order Convolvulaceæ, is very conspicuous in most hedgerows, and is probably so well known that a description need hardly be given for purposes of identification, but we must call attention to a few interesting features that might be overlooked. It is both a creeper and a climber, for it has a creeping rootstock that enables it to travel considerable distances below the surface of the ground, and a twining stem, usually four or five feet long, by which it climbs over the surrounding plants or shrubs. The large, white flowers, which bloom from June to August, are arranged singly on short stalks. Each has a pair of rather large bracts which completely hide the calyx, and which might at first be mistaken for the calyx itself.
The Small Bindweed is, perhaps, more commonly seen in fields than in hedgerows, and is included among the field flowers on p. [228]; and the Dodders, belonging to the same order, are described with the other parasitic plants in [Chapter XXIII].
The Rampion Bellflower.
The four British plants of the order Solanaceæ are all wayside species, flowering from June onwards, and may be considered together here. They possess the following features in common:—The leaves are alternately arranged, without stipules. The flowers are regular, with a five-toothed or five-lobed calyx, and a corolla of (usually) five united petals which are folded in the bud. The number of stamens correspond with that of the lobes of the corolla, and the ovary, which is two-celled, ripens into a berry containing several seeds, except in the Henbane, where it forms a capsule.
The Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) is an erect plant, with a branching stem from one to two feet high, and the whole is more or less coarse and hairy, with a viscid touch and an unpleasant odour. The flowers are of a dingy yellow colour, and are arranged, with very short stalks, in one-sided, leafy spikes which are curved backwards before the flowers are open. The calyx is at first short, but grows longer, as the fruits ripen, until it is about an inch long. It has prominent veins, and its five lobes are stiff and bristly. The dingy corolla also reaches a length of an inch or more, and is distinctly marked with dark bluish veins. This plant flowers from June to September, and is moderately common in waste places, especially near houses.
The other three flowers of this order referred to are all known as Nightshades, and two of them belong to the genus Solanum, in which the flowers are arranged in few-flowered terminal or lateral cymes, on short stalks. The corolla has scarcely any tube, and the flowers are easily distinguished by the peculiar arrangement of the five anthers, which are on very short filaments, and are placed close against the style in such a manner as to form a compact cone in the centre of the flower.
The Great Bindweed.
One species—the Black Nightshade (S. nigrum)—is rather local in its distribution, but often very abundant where it occurs, appearing as a common weed on cultivated soils. It is an erect, spreading herb, either quite smooth or slightly hairy, growing from six inches to two feet high, with swollen angles on its branching stem. Its leaves are stalked, ovate, more or less wavy, with large angular teeth; and the small, white flowers are on short lateral stalks. The fruit is a small, round, black or scarlet berry. This species may be seen in flower from June almost to the end of the year.