Bindweeds

 Bindweeds are those plants that twine around fences, trees and other plants - anywhere they can get a grip - and if nothing is available they carpet the ground.  There are two areas in Newtonmore where Large Bindweed (Calystegia silvatica) has taken hold and covered large areas - near the Clune Terrace Playpark and the Jack Richmond Memorial Park.

Large Bindweed near Clune Terrace, climbing a tree

Large Bindweeed at Jack Richmond Park

The flowers are large and white, a trumpet shape with green "bracteoles" - little green leaves- at their base.

Large Bindweed flowers

The arrangement of the bracteoles helps to distinguish it from another lookalike, Hedge Bindweed (Calystegia sepium). In Large Bindweed the two big bracteoles overlap and look as if they are inflated.

Overlapping bracteoles of Large Bindweed

Where I was brought up, in North Cheshire, my route to Primary School went along a lane where Large Bindweed grew up the fence.  We called it "Granny-pop-out-of-bed".  The video shows you why (apologies for the sound, it was very windy when I filmed this.)

A similar Bindweed grows on the back path from the Golf Clubhouse to Curly's Lane. It is Hedge Bindweed (Calystegia sepium).

Hedge Bindweed

From the angle of the photograph, you could be forgiven for thinking this was the same as Large Bindweed, but if you look from the side, you can see that the bracteoles (the green leaves at the base) don't overlap, so it is Hedge Bindweed.

Hedge Bindweed - non overlapping bracteoles.

In Hedge Bindweed you can also see the sepals, which are paler green and beneath the bracteoles.  In Large Bindweed, the sepals were completely hidden.

 I found a third Bindweed in my garden, and I think it must have arrived with some manure as I had not seen it before. Here it is among my courgettes.

Black-bindweed

It has tiny white flowers and is much smaller. It is Black-bindweed (Fallopia convolvulus). Apparently it has black seeds, but I have been weeding it out too soon to check that.  It had certainly managed to appear at lots of other places in the garden so I can't have been thorough enough.

Seeds of Black-bindweed, enclosed in green sepals

It is in a different family to the previous Bindweeds (which are in Convolvulaceae) as it is in the same family as Japanese Knotweed and Buckwheat.