Hedge Bindweed

Scientific Names

Convolvulus sepium L.
Convolvulaceae
Morning-glory family

Common Names

Devil's vine
Field bindweed
Great bindweed
Hedge lily
Hsuan-hua
Lady's nightcap
Rutland beauty
Trailing bindweed
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Hedge bindweed is a perennial herbaceous vine; the trailing or twining stem is glabrous, angular, and from 3-10 feet long, growing from a creeping rootstock. The leaves are alternate, sagittate, on slender petioles. The flaring, funnel-shaped flowers are white or pink with white stripes and grow solitary on long, quadrangular peduncles from the leaf axils from June to October.

Another variety: Field bindweed (C. arvensis) is a creeping vine; leaves are arrow-shaped, lobes are sharp, not blunt, 1-2 inches long. Flowers are white or pink, to 1 inch long. Blooms June to September. Native Americans used cold leaf tea as a wash on spider bites; internally, to reduce profuse menstrual flow. In European folk use, flower, leaf, and root teas considered laxative. Flower tea used for fevers, wounds. The root is the most active part; strongly purgative.

Also, there is an herb called Wild Jalap (C. jalapa) very similar to the Hedge bindweed.
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Where Found

Grows in waste places, thickets, and cultivated ground in the eastern half of the United States and in all of Europe.
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Medicinal Properties

Cholagogue, febrifuge, purgative
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Uses

Used primarily as a purgative but it helps reduce inflammation of mucous membranes and reduces fevers. The powdered root or a decoction made from the plant is used for the above listed. The fresh juice should be taken in small quantities only; in large quantities it produces constipation. Like all strong purgatives, hedge bindweed is not for extended use.
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Formulas or Dosages

Decoction: boil 1 tsp. flowering plant in 1 cup water. Take 1 tbsp. at a time, as needed.

Juice: take 1/2 tsp., once or twice per day.

Powdered rootstock: take 1 level tsp., once or twice per day.
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Bibliography

Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000

Chinese Medicinal Herbs, compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973.

Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023, 1984