Bryonia
(from bryo, to sprout; in allusion to the annual growth from the tuber). Bryony. ORD. Cucurbitaceae. Tuberous-rooted perennial herbaceous plants, producing annual climbing stems. The native species is well worth growing over unsightly hedges, fences, &c., and in the wild garden; it is a rapid grower, and of extremely easy culture. The stove perennial species should be grown in pots, and the stems trained up the rafters. Rich loam is the soil most suitable for their cultivation. Propagated by seeds, or by divisions of the tuber.
B. dioica (dioecious). fl. greenish-white, racemose, dioecious. fr. globose, red. May to September. l. cordate, palmately fivelobed, toothed, scabrous, from callous points. England. (Sy. En. B. 517.) B. laciniosa (cut-leaved). fl. yellow, solitary; corollas hairy inside, smooth outside. fr. size of a cherry, striated with white. July. l. palmately five-parted, cordate, rough, and blistered, with oblong-lanceolate, acuminated, serrated segments; petioles muricated. Ceylon, 1710. Stove species. SYN. Bryonopsis laciniosa.