Against this wall, there was a trellis of moonflowers, which popped open like small white parachutes at twilight in the summertime, and between the trellis and the stoop you could pull up water from a cistern in the veritable oaken bucket of the song.
—James Thurber, 1952, 'Daguerreotype of a Lady', in The Thurber Album
I had met this before, from a US friend, but from her description assumed they were the same as my hedge bindweed and the name came merely from the appearance. However, learning they are nocturnal, I find that moonflowers are genus Ipomoea (same as morning glory and, surprisingly, sweet potato), whilst bindweed are Calystegia, both in the family Convolvulaceae.
Against this wall, there was a trellis of moonflowers, which popped open like small white parachutes at twilight in the summertime, and between the trellis and the stoop you could pull up water from a cistern in the veritable oaken bucket of the song.
—James Thurber, 1952, 'Daguerreotype of a Lady', in The Thurber Album
I had met this before, from a US friend, but from her description assumed they were the same as my hedge bindweed and the name came merely from the appearance. However, learning they are nocturnal, I find that moonflowers are genus Ipomoea (same as morning glory and, surprisingly, sweet potato), whilst bindweed are Calystegia, both in the family Convolvulaceae.