Convolvulaceae, the morning-glory family.
Description:
Plant:
Twining or trailing vine, to 9', with large white or pinkish funnel-shaped flowers.
Perennial.
Flowers:
White to pinkish, funnel-shaped, with five-fold symmetry,
1.5"-2.5" across, borne singly on long stems in leaf axils.
When pinkish, the flowers often display a white star
Calyx is five lobed and enclosed by a pair of leaf-like bracts.
Flowers have two stigmas.
Leaves:
Alternate, oblong to triangular with two backwards-pointing lobes, 2"-4" long.
The technical term for the arrowhead shape is sagittate.
Fruit:
An ovoid capsule
Blooming:
June-September
Habitat:
Thickets, roadsides, moist areas along streams.
Comments:
A native species, similar to Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis),
in overall appearance but generally about twice as large,
and with two stigmas instead of one.
It is sometimes a troublesome weed, and difficult to eradicate due to the deeply buried,
fleshy roots.
Formerly placed in the genus Convolvulus it has recently been reclassified.
Where to find it:
Not common in the park. I have found it growing in the thicket beside the branch trail that
leads from the paved shoreline trail to the parking lot area.