Morning Glory vs. Bindweed. what's the diff?

So as my husband, and siblings, and roommates, and pretty much most of those people that are close to me, can tell you that is one of my few soapboxes. And now I've decided to share it with all of you. Aren't you so excited?

As a horticulture undergrad, I learned the differences between Morning Glories and bindweed pretty early in my education. Some of you reading this, are probably thinking to yourself "What the heck is bindweed?". Bindweed is that obnoxious weed that almost every gardner knows, but most people mistakenly refer to it as morning glory. It is NOT morning glory. Not even close. So here, are the differences between the two:

Morning Glory
Latin name: Ipomoea violacea L
Look like this, but available in lots of different colors.

 Things to know:
Annual (only lives one year, may reseed, but if you pull up the plants before the seeds drop, all gone)
Grow between 5-15 feet, depending on the variety. They don't have any suction feet like other  climbing plants, so they need something to support them such as wire, trellis, railing, etc.
Flowers are large, easily 2-3 inches in diameter, sometimes bigger.
Is in the same family as sweet potatoes and sweet potato vines.
If you decide you don't want it, pull it up and throw it away. The end.
Don't eat the seeds! Apparently that's a new teenager thing, to eat the seeds to get high. Dumb.


Bindweed
Latin name: Convolvulus arvensis
Also called field bindweed, and mistakenly, morning glory
Generally look like this:

Things to know:
Perennial (this means that one plant lives several years, winter won't kill it!)
Generally has white to light pink flowers
Flowers are usually small, around two inches in diameter at the biggest.
The plant spreads by both seeds and rhizomes. This means if you wait until the plant has dropped seeds, you will eventually have those to contend with. It also means that if you try to pull it up, but don't get all of the roots, that same plant can, and probably will grow back.
The seeds are viable (this means the 'shelf-life' of a seed after it's been dropped from a plant) in the soil for up to 40, yes FORTY years. That means that seeds from the bindweed next to your driveway this summer can decided to sprout anytime between now and then. Even if 'then' is in the distance future when you have grandkids who come to visit.
Is considered invasive and noxious.
Pull it, dig it, torch it, douse it with chemicals and it will still probably come back. Get used to it, I guess. I like to pull mine when I very first see it in the spring. I find that doing that means that if it comes back, it is usually delayed it til most of the plants I want get a much better start. Also, pulling it before you have plants around it makes it easier to pull up all of the roots.  Make sure you pull it before it flowers. Once it flowers, it' starting to develop that those seeds that will last 40 years. Even if you pull the plant, the seeds could be dropped in your yard, your driveway, or even make it to the dump/green waste facility where they are still totally capable of growing into more plants

Moral of the story? Plant morning glories and enjoy them! Don't plant bindweed. If you see the stuff, try to pull it up, dig it out, whatever. But don't just let it go or you'll be on that carousel forever.