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FLOWERS OF THE ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 



Black Bryony is a perennial plant, propagated by the root, which is 

 fleshy and black. The plant is a climber. It flowers from May to June. 



The stamens open inwards. The stigmas are bilobed and bent 

 backwards. Pollination by insects is a necessary precursor to fertiliza- 



BLACK BRYONY (Tamns com munis, L.) 



Photo. L. R. J. He 



tion in this plant. The male flowers are in lax racemes, and solitary 

 or branched; the female flowers are in short racemes, which are re- 

 curved, and have few flowers. In the allied Dioscorca only rudimentary 

 flowers are produced. 



The fruit is a berry, which is red when ripe, and attractive to birds, 

 but usually dispersed by falling to the ground around the parent plant. 



