150 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



of form and size from the great leaves of the lower portion 

 to the lighter forms near the extremity of the stem. The 

 last leaves are often not more than an inch in length. 

 The brilliant gloss of the leaves is another feature that 

 will at once attract the eye; the young leaves near the 

 extremities are a somewhat pale and yellowish green, and 

 have little of this polished surface, but the main bulk of 

 the foliage all that most readily catches the eye is of a 

 dark bluish-green, and has the glossy surface that is so 

 characteristic a feature of the plant, and that makes it very 

 noticeable amongst the other foliage up which it climbs or 

 that surrounds it in the hedgerow or coppice. 



The black bryony is the Tatnus communis of botanical 

 nomenclature. It is unfortunate that another of our 

 English plants shares with this species the name of bryony, 

 as thereby a slight amount of confusion from time to time 

 arises. The present species is always termed the black 

 bryony, in contradistinction from the other species, the 

 white bryony or red-berried bryony, a plant that we pro- 

 pose to figure later on. A moment's glance at the two 

 illustrations will at once suffice to show how different 

 in every way the two plants are. The word bryony is 

 derived from a Greek word signifying to shoot or grow 

 rapidly, and is fairly expressive of both these quick- 

 growing species ; but it is not the less a misfortune that a 

 name which might on this ground be equally well bestowed 

 on a dozen plants, should in any case have been given to 

 more than one. The generic name Tamns is given to the 

 plant from the belief that it is the same as that referred 

 to in the works of Pliny under the title of Uva Taminia. 

 The meaning of the specific title is too self-evident to need 

 any explanation. 



