Convolvulus equitans Benth.
Family: Convolvulaceae
Texas Bindweed,  more...
[Convolvulus hermannioides A. Gray]
Convolvulus equitans image

Plant: Perennial herbaceous vine; branched, prostrate or decumbent stems arising from a taproot, densely pubescent

Leaves: variable, ovate-elliptic to triangular-lanceolate or narrowly oblong with projecting basal lobes; 1-7 cm long, 0.2-4 cm wide, densely pubescent on both surfaces with loosely appressed hairs, the margins toothed or lobed or both, rarely entire; petioles 0.25-5 cm long

INFLORESCENCE: 1-3-flowered cymes; peduncles 0.5-10.5 cm long; bracts and bracteoles scale-like, pubescent like leaves

Flowers: on pedicels 5-24 mm long; sepals oblong to ovate, obtuse to weakly retuse apically, 6-12 mm long, 3-6 mm wide, appressed sericeous, the margins membranaceous; corolla broadly campanulate, white to pink, at times with a reddish center, (1.5-)2.5-3 cm long, sericeous on the petal lobes; ovary ovoid, glabrous

Fruit: FRUITS capsular, 4-valved, mostly brown, chartaceous, globose, 7-8 mm wide, glabrous. SEEDS 1-4, 4-4.5 mm long, black, granulate, glabrous

Misc: Dry plains and hills; 750-2000 m (2500-6500 ft); Mar-Nov

Notes: Leaf shape is ovate-sagittate, triangular-lanceolate. Leaf surface sericeous w/ fine straight hairs.Stems mostly twining. Corolla broadly funnelform.

References: Kearney & Peebles; Arizona Flora. McDougall; Seed plants of N. Arizona. A Utah Flora. ASU Specimans. Austin, Daniel F. 1998. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Convolvulaceae 30(2): 61.

Austin 1998, Heil et al. 2013, Allred and Ivey 2012, Correll and Johnston 1970

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Vine

General: Perennial herb from a taproot; stems branching, prostrate or twining, to 2 m long; herbage densely pubescent.

Leaves: Alternate along the stems, on petioles 2 mm to 5 cm long; blades variable, 1-7 cm long and 2 mm to 3 cm wide, ovate-elliptic to triangular-lanceolate or narrowly oblong, with projecting basal lobes, densely pubescent on both surfaces with loosely appressed hairs.

Flowers: White to pink, usually solitary in leaf axils, on peduncles 0.5-10.5 cm long, sometimes in cymes of 2-3 flowers; sepals 5, oblong to ovate, 6-12 mm long, appressed-sericeous, with membranaceous margins; petals 5, fully fused into a bell-shaped corolla, 3 cm long, white to pink, at times with a reddish center, sericeous on the petal lobes.

Fruits: Capsule globose, 7-8 mm wide, glabrous; containing 1-4 black seeds, 4 mm long.

Ecology: Found on dry plains and hillslopes, and along the dry margins of ephemeral washes, from 2,500-6,500 ft (762-1981 m); flowers March-November.

Distribution: c and s CA, AZ, s UT, s CO, NM, KS, OK, TX, NE; south to c MEX and in S. Amer.

Notes: A twining vine with hairy stems and leaves, and pinkish, bell-shaped flowers which are twisted in bud; distinguished from the similar and introduced C. arvensis by its much narrower leaves; the longer calyx (6-12 mm compared to 3-5 mm long in C. arvensis); and being a perennial from a taproot (C. arvensis has creeping rhizomes). This species does not form the mats typical of the weedy C. arvensis.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Convolvulus means interwoven; equitans means overlapping in 2 ranks, probably referring to the arrangement of the leaves.

Synonyms: Convolvulus hermannioides, C. simulans

Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015, AHazelton 2017