Black Bryony (Dioscorea communis)
Description
Dioscorea communis (sometimes placed in the segregate genus Tamus) is a species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae and is commonly known as black bryony, lady's-seal, and black bindweed It is a climbing herbaceous plant growing to 2–4 m tall, with stems that twine clockwise.[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.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Liliopsida
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Order: Dioscoreales
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Family: Dioscoreaceae
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Genus: Dioscorea
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