BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
225 
GENUS I. 
THE WHITE BRYONY. (Bryonia, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. MONtECIA PENTANDRIA. 
Generic Character. —Flowers monoecious or dicccious. Petals small, ovate, compressed seeds, which are more or less bordered.— 
scarcely cohering at the base.—Males. Calyx five-toothed. Stamens Tendrils simple. (Lindt.) 
in three parcels.—Females. Styles trifid. Fruit succulent, with 
Description, &c. —The only plant belonging to this genus is the white Bryony; for, strange to say, the 
black Bryony ( Tamus communis) is of not only a different genus, but in a different order. The white Bryony 
(B. dioica , Jacq.) is a very elegant climbing plant, common in hedge-rows and thickets in every part of 
England. The leaves are somewhat like those of the Vine ; the flowers, which appear in May, tire green, and 
the berries of a beautiful coral red. The plant is a perennial, but its stems die down to the ground every winter. 
The root is large and fleshy, and if surrounded by a mould, it may be made to take any form. I remember 
several years ago a man bringing a strange root to our house at Bayswater, which he said was that of a Man¬ 
drake, and which looked very much like two children grown together. It was first shown to me, and the man 
finding I was totally ignorant what it was, told me a long story about it screaming when it was torn from the 
ground, and bleeding real blood where it was wounded. Of course this convinced me the man was an impostor, 
and I sent him away ; and when Mr. Loudon returned, he told me what the root must have been. The root 
bruised was formerly used medicinally, and it is still used in country places as a cure for bruises, which it relieves 
on the principle of counter-irritation, as, when applied in a fresh state, it raises a slight blister on the skin. 
CHAPTER LII. 
THE GREEK VALERIAN FAMILY. (Polemoniaceje, Juss.) 
Character of the Order. —Calyx inferior, monosepalous, five- 
parted, persistent, sometimes irregular. Corolla regular, five-lobed. 
Stamens five, inserted into the middle of the tube of the corolla, and 
alternate with its segments. Ovarium superior, three-celled, with a 
fewovula; style simple; stigma trifid. Capsule three-celled, three- 
valved, few-seeded, with a loculicidal dehiscence; the valves separating 
from the axis. Seeds angular or oval, often enveloped in mucus; 
embryo straight in the axis of horny albumen ; radicle inferior; coty¬ 
ledons elliptical, foliaceous. Herbaceous plants, with opposite, or 
occasionally alternate, compound, or simple leaves. ( Lindl.) 
GENUS I. 
THE GREEK VALERIAN. (Polemonium, Lm.) 
Lin. Syst. PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx five-cleft. Corolla rotate, with a short tube ; limb five-lobed. Filaments broadest at the base ; anthers 
incumbent. (Dec.) 
Description, &c. —There is only one British species in this genus. The name of Polemonium is derived 
from the Greek, and it is said to signify war, from two kings having engaged in war, because they could not 
agree which should have the honour of having discovered it. 
G G 
