BLACK BRYOl^ Y.—lhMtw communis. 



Class DicECiA. Order Hexandria. Nat. Ord. Dioscoreacejb. 

 Yam Tribe. 



During the mouths of May and June, the 

 old trunks of many of our woodhuid trees are 

 made green and beautiful by the long stems 

 and glossy leaves of this graceful climber. 

 Investing the trunks and boughs of the tree 

 with a brighter mass of foliage than even the 

 Ivy, and extending its long stems in a twining 

 rather than a creeping habit, to the topmost 

 twigs, or almost weighing down the more 

 slender branches of the underwood, it is yet 

 far less injurious to the plant within its grasp, 

 for its green stems are but slight, and have not 

 the strength and lirmness of the Ivy-band. 

 Yet this, 



" Now climbing high with random maze, 

 O'er elm, and ash, and alder strays j 

 And round each trunk a network weaves 

 Fantastic." 



The flowers are too small and not showy 

 enough in colour to be ])articularly ornamental, 

 but Nature does not offer to the wanderer in 

 the woods a more graceful wreath than that of 

 the Wild Bryony. During sununer, the large 

 green berries look like clusters of wild grapes; 



