THE YAM FAMILY 
[ORDER LXXXII. 
PERIANTH of 6 lobes, in the male flowers 
united at the base into a ring, and in the 
female united into a tube which is com- 
bined with the seedcase (superior), and 
then separating into 6 lobes. 
STAMENS 6 in the male flowers, inserted 
on the base of the perianth-lobes ; absent 
or imperfect in the female flowers. 
PISTIL of 3 CARPELS in the female 
flowers, united into a 3-celled seedcase 
which is combined with the perianth-tube 
(inferior), and separating into 3 styles 
terminating in 3 entire or rarely 2-lobed 
stigmas ; imperfect in the male flowers. 
FRUIT a berry, 3-celled, with 1 or 2 seeds 
in each cell, decaying to free the seeds 
(indehiscent), or a capsule 3-celled and 3- 
or 6-seeded, opening down the middle of 
the cells to free the seeds (loculicidal). 
DIOSCOREACEiE] 
FLOWERS small, clustered together in 
spikes or long clusters (racemes) in the 
axils of the leaves, with stamens and 
imperfect pistils (male) on one plant, and 
without stamens and with perfect pistils 
(female) on another (dioecious). 
STEMS twining. 
LEAVES stalked, usually alternate, net- 
veined, often heart- or arrow-shaped 
(cordate or sagittate) at the base. 
ROOTS often with large tubers, or woody 
and massive. 
DISTINGUISHED from the other orders 
which have the male flowers on a different 
plant from the female by the 6-lobed 
perianth, 6 stamens, and the seedcase 
combined with the perianth-tube. 
T HE Yam is a small family of twining herbs and shrubs, and is represented in the British 
Isles by one species only. It is to be found at its best in tropical lands. 
Some curious species with large, woody roots and slender stems from Mexico and South 
Africa are grown in hot-houses. 
The Yam (Dioscorea), from which genus the family derives its name, is a native of India and 
China, and is cultivated for the sake of its large tubers, which in those countries take the place of 
the Potato. These tubers are often very large, and weigh 30 or 40 pounds apiece. 
BLACK BRYONY. (TAMUS. Linn.) — A genus of the one . ."' ; es : — 
Black Bryony. (T&mus communis. Linn.) — As just described in the Yam Family. 
Slender twining plants with the male flowers on one plant, greenish and with a rudimentary 
pistil, in erect slender clusters ; and with the female flower- on another plant, greenish and with 
6 imperfect stamens, in much shorter curved clusters. The stems twine to a considerable height 
over hedges and shrubs ; the leaves are alternate, bright, glossy, and heart-shaped, and become a 
beautiful yellow in the autumn and then fade and shrivel, forming a wonderful contrast to the 
bunches of rose-scarlet berries with which the plant is loaded. The root is a large black tuber. 
[Plate 57. 
Common. In hedges and bushy places ; throughout England, and not found in Scotland or 
Ireland. May — June. Perennial. 
