Calystegia x howittiorum (C. pulchra x C. silvatica) new for Wexford

 Alexis Fitxgerald email me to ask if I knew the hybrid between Calystegia pulchra (Hairy Bindweed) x Calystegia silvatica (Large Bindweed) = Calystegia x howittiorum - that day I didn't. The next day I was driving along in Wexford and saw the above pink flowered bindweed in a roadside hedge, I stopped to get a map reference. On looking at the plant I could see it wasn't C. pulchra as I had expected but the hybrid C. x howittiorum. The next day I stopped to look at a known site for C. pulchra, and again it was the hybrid. The hybrid has never been recorded form Wexford before. The hybrid has pink flowers, bracteoles (see photos below) near to Calystegia silvatica subsp. disjuncta, plus the pedicel has a wavy-edged wing (see photo below) like C. pulchra.

                                 Above: Calystegia x howittiorum left. Calystegia pulchra right.

                      Below: showing the wavy-edged wing of the hybrid inherited from C. pulchra