convolvulus

Noun

convolvulus (plural convolvuluses or convolvuli)

1. Any of several plants, of the genus Convolvulus, found in temperate climates, having small trumpet-shaped flowers.
   • Toward it the torrent raced furiously, fed from above, where, down the left bank, transformed abruptly into a great wall of vegetation, water was spouting into the stream through thickets festooned with convolvuli on a higher level than the topmost trees of the jungle.1947, Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano, New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, page 318
   • In this painting he uses the lovers for his narrative and makes his symbolic points with the convolvulus, signifying entanglements, climbing up the steps.1994, Edmund Swinglehurst, The Art of the Pre-Raphaelites: A Compilation of Works from the Bridgeman Art Library, Parragon Book Service Limited, “Stages of Cruelty · 1856–90 · Ford Madox Brown”, page...
2. A species of hawkmoth, Agrius convolvuli.
   • Already the convolvulus moth was spinning over the flowers.1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room, Vintage Classics, paperback edition, page 51