﻿BRYO'NIA * * 



Linnean Class and Order. Mon<e'cia f, Penta'ndria. 



Natural Order. Cucurbita'ce/E, Linn . — Jus3. Gen. PI. p. 

 393. — Sm. Gram, of Bot. p. 186. — Lindl. Syn. p. 319. ; — Introd. 

 to Nat. Syst. p. 192. — Rich, by Macgilliv. p. 517. — Loud. Hort. 

 Brit. p. 515. 



Gen. Char. Barren flower, Calyx (see fig. 1.) of 1 sepal or 

 leaf, bell-shaped, with 5 pointed teeth. Corolla (figs. 1 and 2.) 

 connected with the calyx, bell-shaped, in 5 deep, egg-shaped, 

 spreading segments. Filaments (see fig. 2.) 3, short. Anthers 

 5 ; 2 together on 2 of the filaments; the fifth solitary on the third 

 filament. Fertile Flower on the same, or a separate plant. Calyx 

 and Corolla as in the barren flower. Germen (figs. 3 & 4.) inferior. 

 Style (fig. 4.) 3-cleft, shorter than the corolla. Stigmas cloven, 

 spreading. Berry (figs. 5 and 6.) more or less globular, smooth, 

 and even, of 2 or more cells. Seeds (fig. 7.) in pairs, roundish, or 

 somewhat angular, attached to the rind. 



The 5-toothed calyx ; 5-cleft corolla ; 3 filaments and 5 anthers 

 of the barren Hower ; the trifid style, and globose, many-seeded, 

 inferior berry of the fertile one ; will distinguish this from other 

 genera in the same class and order. 



One species British. 



BRYO'NIA DIOICA. Red-berried Bryony. Wild Vine. 

 Tetter-berry. 



Spec. Char. Leaves palmate (hand-shaped), rough on both 

 sides, with callous points. Barren and fertile flowers on separate 

 plants. 



Eng. Bot. t. 439. — Sm. FI. Brit. v. iii. p. 1019. Eng. FI. v. iv. p. 138. — With. 

 (7th ed.) v. ii. p.9'2. — Lindl. Syn. p.319. — Hook. Brit. FI. p. 404. — Sibth. FI. 

 Oxon. p. 82.— Abbot’s FI. Bedf. p. 217. — Relh. FI. Cant. (3rd ed.) p. 413. — 

 Flook. FI. Scot. p. 272. — Walk. FI. of Oxf. p. 278. — FI. Bath, p. 16. — Bryonia 

 alba, Hay’s Syn. p. 261. — Johnson’s Gerarde, p. 869. — Huds. FI. Angl. p. 437. 

 — Lightf. FI. Scot. v. ii. p. 590. — Woodv. Med. Bot. v. iii. p. 517. t. 189. — 

 Bryonia ruderalis, Gray’s Nat. Arr. v. ii. p. 551. 



Localities. — I n woods and hedges. Common in many parts of England, 

 ltare in Scotland. 



Perennial. — Flowers from May to September. 



Root very large, fleshy, white, and branched. Sterns herbaceous, 

 annual, rough, leafy, slender, slightly branched, climbing by their 

 tendrils to a considerable height, often to the tops of hedges, and 

 even trees. Leaves alternate, on round hairy petioles (leaf-stalks), 

 3 or 4 inches broad, deeply 5-lobed, rough all over with minute 

 callous tubercles. Tendrils axillary, simple, often twining first one 



F'ig. 1. Calyx and Corolla of a barren flower. — Fig. 2. Corolla of a barren 

 flower cut open, to show the 5 stamens. — F'ig. 3. Calyx and Corolla of a fertile 

 flower. — Fig. 4. Germen, Style, and Stigmas of ditto, a little magnified. — F'ig. 5. 

 A Berry. — Fig. 6. A transveise section of ditto. — F’ig. 7. A Seed. 



* From bruo, Gr. to shoot or grow rapidly, in allusion to the quick growth 

 of the stems. L)r. Hooker. 



t From monos, Gr. one, and oicia, Gr. a house; the 2lst class in the Lin- 

 nean Artificial System ; comprehending those plants which have stamens only 

 in one flower, and a pistil, or pistils, only in another, but both kinds of flowers 

 growing on the same plant. 



