''Convolvulus'' is a genus of about 200 to 250
[''Convolvulus''.]
Flora of China.[''Convolvulus'']
The Jepson eFlora. 2013. species of
flowering plants in the
bindweed family
Convolvulaceae,
[Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012. ''Webb's An Irish Flora''. Cork University Press. ] with a
cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. Such a taxon, usually a species, is said to exhibit cosmopolitanism or cosmopolitism. The ext ...
. Common names include bindweed and
morning glory; both names shared with other closely related
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
.
Description
They are
annual or
perennial herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of t ...
vines,
bines and (a few species of) woody
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
s, growing to 0.3–3 m tall. The
leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
are spirally arranged, and the
flowers trumpet-shaped, mostly white or pink, but blue, violet, purple, or yellow in some species.
Ecology
Many of the species are
invasive
Invasive may refer to:
*Invasive (medical) procedure
*Invasive species
*Invasive observation, especially in reference to surveillance
*Invasively progressive spread of disease from one organ in the body to another, especially in reference to cancer ...
weeds; but others are cultivated for their attractive
flowers, while some are
globally threatened.
''Convolvulus'' species are used as food plants by the
larvae of some
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...
species, including the
convolvulus hawk moth
''Agrius convolvuli'', the convolvulus hawk-moth, is a large hawk-moth. It is common throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, partly as a migrant. In New Zealand, it is also known as the kumara moth, and in the Māori language ...
, the
sweet potato leaf miner (''Bedellia somnulentella'') and
the gem; the
leaf miner ''
Bucculatrix cantabricella'' feeds exclusively on ''C. cantabricus''.
Gallery
File:PikiWiki Israel 7035 Plants of Israel.jpg, '' C. dorycnium''
Image:Convolvulus sabatius0.jpg, '' C. sabatius''
Image:Convolvulus tricolor.jpg, Cultivated '' C. tricolor''
File:Convolvulus althaeoides 1-fruto.jpg, '' C. althaeoides''
File:Convolvulus arvensis -flower view 01.jpg, '' C. arvensis''
File:Семечко вьюнка.jpg, Seed under a microscope
See also
*
List of ''Convolvulus'' species
References
External links
*
Flora Europaea: ''Convolvulus''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q147507
Convolvulaceae genera
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus