Israel wildflowers: Shaggy bindweed

Convolvulus betonicifolius, Shaggy bindweed,
Hebrew: חבלבל שעיר, Arabic: لبلاب قسطراني الورق


Scientific name:		Convolvulus betonicifolius Miller
Common name:		Shaggy bindweed, Betony-leaved bindweed
Hebrew name:		חבלבל שעיר
Arabic name:		لبلاب قسطراني الورق
Plant Family:		Convolvulaceae, חבלבליים

_{Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve}


Life form:		Geophyte, climber
Stems:		Stalk slender, twining, 150-180 cm high
Leaves:		Alternate, entire, smooth
Flowers:		White
Fruits / pods:		Capsule
Flowering Period:		March, April, May, June, July, August
Habitat:		Nutrient-rich soils, ruderal
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands
Chorotype:		Mediterranean
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

_{Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve}
Derivation of the botanical name:

Convolvulus, Latin, convolvere, “to twine around”; “a bindweed” (Plinius), from convolvo, volvi, volutum, ere “to droll together, roll up, intertwine.”

betonicifolius, with leaves like betony.
The Hebrew word chavalval, חבלבול. Shaul Tchernichovsky (1875 – 1943), poem: “You Are So Fragrant” (19.7.1929):… ניחוחם של חבלבלים, nichucham shel chavalvalim, fragrance of Convolvulus (Tchernichovsky’s Note: chavalval, חבלבול, Convolvulus L. Winde, Bindweed, Вьюнок).

The standard author abbreviation Miller is used to indicate Philip Miller (1691 – 1771), an English botanist, horticulturist.

_{Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve}