Bryonia
| Bryonia | |
|---|---|
_Plant.JPG) |
|
| red bryony (B. dioica) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Cucurbitales |
| Family: | Cucurbitaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cucurbitoideae |
| Tribe: | Benincaseae |
| Subtribe: | Benincasinae |
| Genus: |
Bryonia L. |
| Diversity | |
| 12 species | |
Bryonia is a genus of flowering plant in the gourd family. Bryony /ˈbraɪ.əni/ is its best-known common name. They are native to western Eurasia and adjacent regions, such as North Africa, the Canary Islands and South Asia.
Bryonies are perennial, tendril-climbing, diclinous or dioeciousherbs with palmately lobed leaves and flowers in axillary clusters. The fruit is a smooth, globular berry.
The only English species, B. dioica (white bryony), grows in hedgerows as far north as Yorkshire.
Bryonia is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), including the tortrix moth Phtheochroa rugosana (recorded on red bryony, B. dioica) and the Cabbage Moth (Mamestra brassicae).
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Wikipedia