CLASS XXI. ORDER V.] BRYONIA. 1199 
bose, dicecious; calyx ‘of the fertile flowers much shorter than the 
corolla. 
English Botany, t. 439.—English Flora, vol. iv. p. 138.—Hooker. 
British lora, ed 4, vol. i. p. 346.—Lindley, Synopsis, p. 326.—B, 
alba, Hudson. 
Zioot large, fleshy, white, very acrid. Stem herbaceous, weak, 
round, roughish, branched, leafy, climbing by the long and simple 
axillary tendrils several feet. Leaves alternate, petiolated, large, 
from three to four inches wide, more or less deeply heart-shaped at 
the base, five lobed and toothed, the teeth terminating in a small 
hardened point, dark green, paler beneath, and rough on both sides, 
with short rigid hairs, dilated at the base. Inflorescence axillary 
sub-corymbose clusters, of from four to cight flowers, elevated on a 
common stalk, longer than the petioles. Calya: of one piece, deeply 
five-cleft, about half as long as the corolla, which is formed of five 
oblong spreading lobes, pale green, elegantly veined. Style cleft into 
three or four lobed downy stigmas. Fruit an inferior globose scarlet 
berry, of three cells, each cell two or more seeded. 
Habitat—Hedges and thickets; frequent in England, “ not indi- 
ginous to Scotland.’— Hooker. 
Perennial ; flowering in May. 
The tubers of this plant are often very large. ‘ Old Gerarde,” in 
speaking of this plant, says, “The Queene’s chiefe chirurgeon, Master 
William Goodorous, shewed me a roote hereof that waied halfe an 
hundred waighte, and the bignesse of a childe a yeare old.” The 
fresh root, when taken into the stomach, acts as a violent emetic and 
purgative, and has been used as a diuretic in dropsical affections. 
The taste is nauseous, very acrid, and bitter, properties which seem 
to depend upon the presence of a peculiar substance, named by its 
discoverer Vauquelin, Bryonite. The fresh root, when applied to the 
skin, is so acrid, that it raises a blister if kept on the part toolong; on 
account of this property it is sold in the shops for the purpose of 
applying to swellings about the eyes and face, caused by blows, &c., 
in the same manner as that of Convallaria multiflora. The roots cut 
into slices have been often used to mix with those of Colomba, an 
unpardonable adulteration, from which the most serious consequences 
might arise. Bryony is amost drastic purgative, while the Colomba root 
isa mild elegant tonic. It is often also used to adulterate Jalap, but 
here the fraud is not so vile, as both possess similar properties, but 
that of Jalap is less drastic and irritating. Withering says that a 
decoction of the fresh root of Bryony is one of the best cathartic 
medicines for horned cattle, and that it is a common practice ia 
Norfolk to give small quantities to horses, mixed with their corn, to 
render their coats glossy and fine. Goats are said to be the only 
animais that will feed upon this plant. It is very common on the 
Continent, as well as B. alba, which is distinguished by the segment 
of the calyx being as long as the corolla, and the berries being black. 
