The only native British member of the yam family, this climber is highly poisonous
Black bryony — Dioscoreaceae.
Nature · Ferns, grasses & other plants
Black bryony
Native · flowers May–August, berries autumn · twining climber to 4 m · hedgerows and wood edges
Dioscorea communis (formerly Tamus communis) — Dioscoreaceae
Black bryony is a twining hedgerow climber with glossy, heart-shaped leaves and strings of shiny red berries that glow in the autumn hedge. It is Britain's only native member of the yam family, and it is highly poisonous, from the berries to the black-skinned underground tuber. It is not related to white bryony, though the two are often confused, and the berries look tempting to children, so it should never be tasted.
How to spot them
- ▸Glossy, heart-shaped, pointed leaves with net-like veins and wavy, alternate arrangement, on twisting, smooth stems
- ▸No tendrils at all; it climbs by twining, usually anticlockwise
- ▸Small, greenish-yellow six-parted flowers May to August, male and female on different plants
- ▸Bright red, shiny berries in hanging strings, ripening in autumn and lingering into early winter
- ▸Look-alike: white bryony has rough five-lobed leaves and curling tendrils; black bryony has smooth, undivided, heart-shaped leaves and no tendrils
How to know it
Glossy heart-shaped leaves, no tendrils, and strings of shiny red berries in autumn
Black bryony.
Unlike its unrelated look-alike, it climbs by twisting stems rather than coiling tendrils
Black bryony — the white bryony has tendrils.
Its underground storage organ is a large tuber with a dark skin, and it is as poisonous as the rest of the plant
Black bryony — the name refers to the tuber's black skin.
The genus honours a Greek physician, Dioscorides, author of De Materia Medica
Black bryony — Dioscorea communis.
Quick-fire facts
- •Safety: all parts are highly poisonous, including the berries and the tuber; do not eat any part, and treat bright red hedgerow berries as unsafe unless positively identified
- •It is easily confused with white bryony (both climb hedges and have red berries) and its young spring shoots could be mistaken for hop or asparagus shoots by foragers; misidentification is a real poisoning risk
- •Flowers May to August, berries autumn to early winter; found mainly in England and Wales (Wildlife Trusts)
- •Grows from a nutrient-storing tuber lying 10–20 cm below the soil surface; the Wildlife Trusts note it can reach 60 cm in width
- •Only native British member of the yam family, Dioscoreaceae; the genus Dioscorea includes the edible tropical yams, but that gives no comfort: this species is not safe to eat
- •Twines anticlockwise, opposite to hop; commonly described
- •Unrelated to white bryony, which is in the cucumber family, Cucurbitaceae
- •The sap can irritate skin, so gloves are wise when clearing it
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Sources
- The Wildlife Trusts — Black bryony