The sand bindweed, or sea bindweed, is a perennial vine which grows on sandy beaches and coastal habitats. Known in Maltese as leblieb tar-ramel, its scientific name is Calystegia soldanella. It also has a synonym - Convolvulus soldanella, where the name Convolvulus is probably derived from the Latin word "convolvere" which means to intertwine. Indeed, its names indicate its habit of growth.

This plant bears fleshy stems, which lie flat upon the ground, sometimes twisting. They may grow up to 50-100cm in length. These stems produce a white milky juice or sap when bruised or cut. The binweed's leaves are long-stalked, kidney-shaped and rather fleshy. The attractive solitary flowers, which are pollinated by insects, are relatively large, funnel shaped and usually pink or purple in colour, with whitish stripes. The petals are separate or united, and around 32-35mm in diameter. This plant has rhizomes or rootstalks, which are horizontal, usually underground stems from which roots and shoots grow. This capability allows the parent plant to propagate vegetatively (asexually) and also enables a plant to survive an annual unfavourable season.

Though this plant is found in a large part of the world, it is rare in Malta. In view of this, it is afforded protection in Malta, and one should not pick, collect, cut, uproot, destroy or damage this unique plant in any way.

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The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. Malta together with many other countries around the globe is carrying out a number of initiatives to celebrate life on earth and the value of biodiversity for our lives. We are all invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth: biodiversity.