Dioscorea communis or Tamus communis is a species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae and is commonly known as black bryony, lady's-seal or black bindweed.[2]

Black bryony
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Dioscoreales
Family:	Dioscoreaceae
Genus:	Dioscorea
Species:	D. communis
Binomial name
Dioscorea communis (L.) Caddick & Wilkin
Synonyms[1]
Tamus communis (L.) Tamus cretica L. Tamus racemosa Gouan Smilax rubra Willd. Tamus cordifolia Stokes Tamus edulis Lowe Tamus norsa Lowe Dioscorea canariensis Webb & Berthel. Tamus canariensis Willd. ex Kunth Tamus parviflora Kunth Tamus baccifera St.-Lag. Tamus cirrhosa Hausskn. ex Bornm.

Description

It is a climbing herbaceous plant growing to 2–4 m tall, with stems that twine anticlockwise.[3]^: 102 The leaves are spirally arranged, heart-shaped, up to 10 cm long and 8 cm broad, with a petiole up to 5 cm long. It is dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The flowers are individually inconspicuous, greenish-yellow, 3–6 mm diameter, with six petals; the male flowers produced in slender 5–10 cm racemes, the female flowers in shorter clusters. The fruit is a bright red berry, 1 cm diameter. Its fairly large tuber is, like the rest of the plant, poisonous.

Distribution

Dioscorea communis is native and widespread throughout southern and central Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia, from Ireland to the Canary Islands, east to Iran and Crimea.[1][4][5][6][7][8]

Habitat

Dioscorea communis is a typical plant of the forest understory, from the sea to the mountains, usually in dense woods, but it can also be found in meadows and hedges.

Uses

All components of the black bryony plant, including the tubers, are poisonous due to saponin content, so it is not typically used internally; however, it has been used as a poultice for bruises and inflamed joints. It has been suggested that black bryony be used topically with caution, due to a tendency for the plant to cause painful blisters.

Studies have isolated calcium oxalate deposits and histamines in the berry juice and rhizomes, which may contribute to skin irritation and contact dermatitis associated with black bryony.[9]

Black Bryony is highly poisonous and should not be ingested at all at least when raw.^{[citation needed]} When cooked, young shoots are commonly eaten in southern France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Croatia.

Chemistry

The rhizome contains phenanthrenes (7-hydroxy-2,3,4,8-tetramethoxyphenanthrene, 2,3,4-trimethoxy-7,8-methylenedioxyphenanthrene, 3-hydroxy-2,4,-dimethoxy-7,8-methylenedioxyphenanthrene, 2-hydroxy-3,5,7-trimethoxyphenanthrene and 2-hydroxy-3,5,7-trimethoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene).[10]

Gallery

• 
  Illustration from Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885
• 
  Plant of Dioscorea communis
• 
  Close-up of fruits of Dioscorea communis
• 
  Fruits and seeds
• 
  Young shoots - edible part of black bryony

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dioscorea communis.

Wikispecies has information related to Dioscorea communis.

На других языках

[de] Gemeine Schmerwurz

[es] Dioscorea communis

[ru] Диоскорея обыкновенная