The mallow bindweed is a perennial plant with large pink flowers. It flowers from mid-April to June. The leaves are greyish green with finger-like edges. The flowers are pink with darker central parts. It is common in garigue and disturbed habitats and can sometimes be seen along roadsides and country paths. In Maltese it is known as leblieb tax-xagħri.

There are several species of bindweeds in Europe, eight of which have been recorded in Malta. Some species are sometimes considered as pests because they compete with cultivated plants, but apart from having ecological value as part of our indigenous flora, they add colour to disturbed ground even in the summer months when most other plants have dried out.

The most common is the field bindweed, known in Maltese as leblieba tar-raba’. This plant can be found in cultivated and waste places. It is a perennial plant – it survives from one season to the other and does not die after producing seeds like annual plants.

It has long, trailing, or twining stems with triangular grayish leaves. The leaves can be white, pink or striped pink and white. The flowers can be seen from March throughout the summer months until October.

The three-coloured bindweed, known in Maltese as leblieb ikhal, is probably the most attractive of the bindweeds but unfortunately it is quite rare, although it is sometimes cultivated as a garden plant.

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