Viny perennial with an extensive system of deep creeping roots and rhizomes. Field bindweed is considered one of the most noxious weeds of agricultural fields throughout temperate regions of the world. Plants typically develop large patches and are difficult to control. It is troublesome in numerous crops, but is especially problematic in cereals, beans, and potatoes. Heavy infestations in cereal crops can reduce harvest yields 30-40% or more. Plants can harbor the viruses that cause potato X disease, tomato spotted wilt, and vaccinium false bottom. Foliage contains tropane alkaloids and can cause intestinal problems in horses grazing on heavily infested pastures

SEEDLINGS: Cotyledons unequal, +/-square to kidney-shaped, indented at the tip, ~ 8-20 mm long, 3-10 mm wide, glabrous, dull green with whitish veins, on stalks ~ 10-20 mm long. First leaves +/- arrowhead-shaped, blunt at the tip, similar in size to the cotyledons. Subsequent leaves increasingly larger, +/- resemble mature leaves. New leaves loosely creased along the main vein in bud. Taproot grows deep rapidly. By 6 weeks, creeping lateral roots have developed, typically in the top 30 cm of soil.

MATURE PLANT: Stems twine around and over other plants or trail along the ground. Leaves alternate, short-stalked, arrowhead-shaped to +/- oblong or round, tips often rounded, typically 2-4 cm long, glabrous or sparsely covered with short hairs, dull green, sometimes covered with a whitish powdery bloom. Basal lobes +/- pointed, often flared outwards (hastate). Leaf size and shape vary greatly depending on environmental conditions such as light intensity, soil moisture, and frequency of cultivation or defoliation

ROOTS and UNDERGROUND STRUCTURES: Roots cord-like, white, fleshy, brittle. Root systems consist of a vigorous, extensive network of primary and secondary taproots, numerous short-lived lateral feeder roots, and long-lived horizontal creeping roots that develop rhizomes from endogenous buds. Rhizomes grow to the soil surface and produce new shoots. Roots can penetrate soil to a depth of 3 m or more depending on the availability of soil moisture. Most horizontal creeping roots develop in the top 60 cm of soil. Root systems competitively extract soil moisture and can survive extended periods of drought and repeated cultivation.

FLOWERS: April-October or until the first frost. Flowers axillary, solitary or in cymes of 2-4, on stalks (peduncles) ~ 2-6 cm long. Corolla white or pinkish, funnel-shaped, 1.5-3 cm long, pleated and spiraled in bud. Calyx +/- bell-shaped, usually less than 5 mm long. Stigmas 2, linear, cylindrical, not flattened. Bracts 2, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1-10 mm long, attached ~ 10-25 mm below flower. Flowers open for 1 day. Insect-pollinated. Self-incompatible

HABITAT: Cultivated fields, orchards, vineyards, gardens, pastures, abandoned fields, roadsides, waste places. Grows best on moist fertile soils. Tolerates poor, dry, gravelly soils, but seldom grows in wet soils.