The White or Red-berried Bryony (Bryonia dioica) is a very common hedgerow climber, the only British representative of its order (Cucurbitaceæ). It has a very thick rootstock; a slender stem, that often reaches a length of ten feet or more; large, bright green, palmate leaves with three, five or seven angular, coarsely-toothed lobes; and long simple or branched tendrils. The flowers are imperfect, the males and females growing on separate plants. The former are of a pale yellow colour, in stalked clusters, each one consisting of a spreading, five-lobed corolla, about half an inch in diameter, and five stamens, one of which is free, while the other four are united in pairs: the females are smaller, generally in pairs, each consisting of a globular ovary with three stigmas, and a superior, five-lobed corolla. The fruit is a scarlet or orange-coloured berry, about a third of an inch in diameter, containing several seeds. The whole plant is clothed with small, white hairs, and contains an acrid sap. Time of flowering—May to September.
The Moschatel.
The Common Beaked Parsley (Anthriscus vulgaris), of the order Umbelliferæ, is very common by waysides, flowering during May and June. The stem of this plant is smooth and shining, from two to three feet high, slightly swollen at the nodes. The leaves are tri-pinnate, with blunt segments, and slightly hairy on the under side. The white flowers are arranged in compound umbels with short stalks, and the umbels droop before the flowers open. There are no bracts at the base of the main pedicels, but five or six bracteoles, with fringed edges, lie at the foot of the secondary pedicels. The fruits are short, ovate, with short beaks and hooked bristles. As with the other members of this genus, the petals have an inflexed lip.
This genus includes the Chervil or Wild Beaked Parsley (A. sylvestris), which is very common in hedges and waysides, flowering from April to June. It grows from three to four feet high, and has tri-pinnate leaves with coarsely-serrated edges. The umbels are terminal, on long stalks. There are no bracts, but about five narrow, ovate bracteoles with fringed edges. The flowers are white; and the fruits are long and narrow, smooth, with short beaks.
The White Bryony, Climbing over a Bed of Nettles.
The Garden Beaked Parsley (A. cerefolium) is very similar to the last species, but has only three bracteoles in a whorl, and the umbels are lateral and shortly stalked. Also, the fruit, which is of the same form, has a longer beak. This species is not a native, but is often found as a garden escape. It grows to a height of about eighteen inches, and flowers from May to July.
Our last example of the Umbelliferæ is the Goutweed, Bishop-weed or Herb Gerard (Ægopodium Podagraria), a rather coarse, erect, smooth plant, from one to two feet high, commonly seen in wayside ditches and other damp places. It was formerly cultivated largely for medicinal purposes, consequently it is to be found chiefly near towns and villages, where it occurs as a garden escape. It has a creeping, aromatic stock; a hollow, grooved stem; large long-stalked, biternate radical leaves, with ovate or narrow, toothed segments, two or three inches long; and smaller stem-leaves with fewer segments. The flowers are greenish white, in umbels of many rays, with few or no primary or secondary bracts; and the fruits are oblong, about a sixth of an inch long, with the two diverging styles curved downward. The plant flowers from May to August.
