Wild Buckwheat

Smartweed (Polygonaceae family):

Fallopia convolvulus (L.) Á. Löve

EPPO Code:

POLCO

Other Names:

Black bindweed, climbing bindweed, corn bindweed

Species information

Lifecycle:

Annual.

Propagation:

Reproduces only by seed.

Emergence:

One of the first annual broadleaf weeds to germinate and emerge in the spring.

Habitat:

Wild buckwheat is commonly found in cultivated fields throughout Ontario.

Competitiveness:

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research has shown that wild buckwheat densities of 20,000 plants/ac can result in 10–15% yield loss in corn and soybeans.

Identification clues

Seedling

Cotyledons:

Elongated with a rounded apex and attached directly to the stem.

First leaves:

Wild buckwheat’s first leaf is shaped like an arrowhead or spade with pointed basal lobes.

Mature leaves:

The mature leaves of wild buckwheat have an alternate leaf orientation. They are similar to younger leaves, but larger and with more prominent veins.

Mature plant

Stems:

The stems of wild buckwheat are long and slender. Spreading and vine-like, they wrap around other plants and objects. The stems have a membranous sheath, an ocrea, which surrounds each node.

Flowers:

Flowers consist of five small and greenish to white-pink sepals that are located at the tips of short branches or from leaf axils.

Seeds:

Dull black, 3 mm long and shaped like a CFL football.

Roots:

Fibrous.

Often mistaken for

I know it’s not Field and hedge bindweed because wild buckwheat has an ocrea that surrounds the leaf stem at each node and lacks the round, showy morning glory-like flowers of bindweed species.