Bryonia cretica subsp. dioica
Poisonous plant
Common name
white bryony
Family
Cucurbitaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Lianes & Related Trailing Plants - Dicotyledons
Habitat
Terrestrial. Disturbed and open forest and shrubland, stream edges
Features
Soft, summer-green, cucumber-like vine to 6 m tall, dying back in autumn to perennial tuber. Tubers brittle, branching, huge; branches 45-160 x 100- 800 cm, oriented vertical to horizontal. Stems arise from end of tuber, soft; with slender, coiling tendrils. Leaves to 15 x 15 cm, thin, 5-lobed, middle lobe longest. Flowers tubular, to 2 cm long, whitish with green stripes. Fruit round, 4-8 mm diam, smooth skinned, succulent, yellow turning red, many-seeded, 5-8 clustered.
Similar taxa
Sicyos australis (mawhai) (indigenous) has prickly 1-seeded fruits. Tamus communis (black Bryony) is also similar.
Flowering
December, January, February
Flower colours
Green, White
Fruiting
Jan-march
Year naturalised
1991
Origin
Eurasia/Mediterranean
Etymology
dioica: Two plants
Reason For Introduction
Ornamental
Life Cycle Comments
Perennial.
Reproduction
Spreads by seeds and vegetatively by tuber fragments.
Seed
Many seeds contained within each fruit.
Dispersal
Tuber fragments via water, soil disturbance, garden refuse. Seed dispersed by birds.
Tolerances
Tolerates wet to seasonal drought, warm to cool, variety of soils, semi shade. Poisonous so not browsed.
References