THE FLOWERS OF THE HEDGE-CLIMBERS 



535 



BLACK BRYONY IN FRUIT. 



snails, slugs and other vegetarians 

 climbing up and devouring the 

 leaves. In fact, we may consider 

 that the Hop is a highly developed 

 plant, as it has so many adapta- 

 tions for protecting itself and for 

 propagating its own species. 



BLACK BRYONY 



One of the most beautiful of our 

 hedge-climbers is the Black Bry- 

 ony {Tamils communis), with its 



long sprays of very glossy foliage festooning 

 the bushes o\'er which it cUmbs ; its bright, 

 shining heart-shaped leaves are sure to attract 

 notice, and there are few leaves which are more 

 beautiful. The lower leaves are generally larger 

 than those on the upper portions of the stem, 

 and are sometimes as much as six inches in 

 breadth ; all of them are heart-shaped at the 

 base, and gradually taper to a point. The 

 flowers are of two kinds and are borne on 

 separate plants, a sure and certain way of pro- 

 curing cross fertilisation. The male blossoms 

 appear in long racemes, and are small and yel- 

 lowish green ; each one bears six stamens ; 

 the general appearance is well shown in the 

 photograph. The female flowers are in much 

 shorter racemes and are unattractive in appear- 



FOLIAGE OF BLACK BRYONY. 



