Bryonia dioica

Bryonia dioica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Cucurbitaceae
Genus:	Bryonia
Species:	B. dioica
Binomial name
	Bryonia dioica; Jacq. non M.Bieb. non Bojer non Sessé & Moc.

Bryonia dioica, known by the common names red bryony and white bryony,^[1] also English mandrake or ladies' seal,^[2] is a perennial climbing vine indigenous to Central and Southern Europe. It is a flowering plant in the cucumber family Cucurbitaceae with five-pointed leaves and blue or white flowers. The vine produces a red berry fruit.

Toxicity[]

Bryonia dioica is generally toxic to humans. Application of its juice to the skin produces inflammation with a rash or ulcers, and consumption of this juice causes intense gastrointestinal irritation including nausea and vomiting in small doses, and anxiety, paralysis, or death in larger amounts.^{[citation needed]}

The seed of this vine, by contrast, is safely edible, and finds use in Western Europe as an ingredient in starch dishes.^{[citation needed]}

Herbalism[]

The plant is sometimes used in herbalism. In medieval times the plant was thought to be an antidote for leprosy.^[2]

The root can be 75 cm (30 in) long and 75 mm (3.0 in) thick. John Gerard's Herball (1597) states that: "The Queen's chief surgeon, Mr. William Godorous, a very curious and learned gentleman, shewed me a root hereof that waied half an hundredweight, and of the bignes of a child of a yeare old."^[2]

It can be used fresh at any time of the year. It can also be harvested in the autumn and be dried for later use.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery[]

Flowers of Bryonia dioica

References[]

^ Sterry, Paul (2006). Collins Complete Guide to British Wild Flowers. London: HarperCollins. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-00-723684-8.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Grieve, Maud (1971). A Modern Herbal: The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs, & Trees with All Their Modern Scientific Uses, Volume 1. p. 132. ISBN 9780486227986.

[1] Sterry, Paul (2006). Collins Complete Guide to British Wild Flowers. London: HarperCollins. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-00-723684-8.

[grieve-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Grieve, Maud (1971). A Modern Herbal: The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs, & Trees with All Their Modern Scientific Uses, Volume 1. p. 132. ISBN 9780486227986.

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