Calystegia sepium
| Calystegia sepium | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 4 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 10' |
| Speed: | Fast |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer-Early Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Calystegia sepium (common name: hedge bindweed)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in a cold frame in a free draining compost and only just cover. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 3 months at 15°c[1]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Division in early spring whilst dormant[2].
Cultivation: Easily grown in ordinary garden soil in a sunny position, but plants are apt to become invasive[3][2].
Hedge bindweed is a troublesome garden weed, especially when growing on moist soils[3][4]. The plant is a vigorous climber with annual shoots 3 metres or more long. These twine around other plants and can kill them by smothering them[4]. Once established, it is very difficult to eradicate the plant because it has very deep roots and is capable of re-growing from any part of the root left in the ground.
The flowers open in sunny weather and remain closed during dull weather[4].
Nearly all taxa in Calystegia intergrade geographically into neighboring taxa with the exception of the widespread coastal species, C. soldanella (Linnaeus) R. Brown. It is impossible to draw clearly defined specific limits, and intermediate forms are always found where two taxa approximate geographically[5].
Range: Most of Europe, excluding the north but including Britain, W. Asia, N. Africa and N. America.
Habitat: Hedges, fences, edges of woods, waste ground etc[6].
Edibility: Stalks and root - cooked[7][8][9][10]. Washed and steamed[11]. A pleasant sweet taste[12]. Rich in starch and sugars, it is very nutritious[11]. It should not be eaten regularly, however, due to its possible purgative effect[11].
Young shoots - cooked[8][13][14]. Some caution is advised since they are possibly purgative[11].
Medicinal: The root is demulcent, diuretic, febrifuge, poultice and strongly purgative[6][15][12][16]. Use of the root is believed to increase the flow of bile[16].
Usage: The stems are very flexible and can be used as an emergency string for tying[17]. It is fairly strong but not very long-lasting[K].
Pollinators: Bees, lepidoptera
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Known Hazards: This species is said to be purgative[18], some caution is advised.
Also Known As: Convolvulus sepium.
Links
References
- ↑ Bird, R. Growing from Seed Volume 3. Thompson and Morgan, 1989.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Flora of China. 1994.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Launert, Edmund. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn, 1981.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Laing, Robert. Plants of New Zealand. Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd, 1907.
- ↑ Brooker, Stanley. Economic Native Plants of New Zealand. Oxford University Press, 1991.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Read, Bernard. Famine Foods Listed in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts'ao. Taipei Southern Materials Centre, 1977.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Stuart, George. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei Southern Materials Centre.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Lust, John. The Herb Book. Bantam Books, 1983.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Foster, Steven and Billy Tatum. Medicinal Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
- ↑ Mabey, Richard. Plants with a Purpose. Fontana, 1979.
- ↑ Crowe, Andrew. Native Edible Plants of New Zealand. Hodder and Stoughton, 1990.