Bryonia dioica

Bryonia dioica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Cucurbitaceae
Genus:	Bryonia
Species:	B. dioica
Binomial name
	Bryonia dioica; Jacq. non M.Bieb. non Bojer non Sessé & Moc.

Bryonia dioica, known by the common names red bryony and white bryony,^[1] also English mandrake or ladies' seal,^[2] is a perennial climbing vine indigenous to Central and Southern Europe. It is a flowering plant in the cucumber family Cucurbitaceae with five-pointed leaves and blue or white flowers. The vine produces a red berry fruit.

Toxicity

Bryonia dioica is generally toxic to humans. Application of its juice to the skin produces inflammation with a rash or ulcers, and consumption of this juice causes intense gastrointestinal irritation including nausea and vomiting in small doses, and anxiety, paralysis, or death in larger amounts.^{[citation needed]}

The seed of this vine, by contrast, is safely edible, and finds use in Western Europe as an ingredient in starch dishes.^{[citation needed]}

Herbalism

The plant is sometimes used in herbalism. In medieval times, the plant was thought to be an antidote for leprosy.^[2]

The root can be 75 cm (30 in) long and 75 mm (3.0 in) thick. John Gerard's Herball (1597) states that: "The Queen's chief surgeon, Mr. William Godorous, a very curious and learned gentleman, shewed me a root hereof that waied half an hundredweight, and of the bignes of a child of a yeare old."^[2]

It can be used fresh at any time of the year. It can also be harvested in the autumn and be dried for later use.^{[citation needed]}