Dioscorea communis - Black bryony

Black bryony (Dioscorea communis) is a dioecious perennial climber native to Europe, North Africa and western Asia, growing in hedgerows, scrub and woodland edges. The whole plant is poisonous, mainly from calcium oxalate crystals concentrated in the fruit; the young shoots are edible only after cooking, and the root is used medicinally as an external poultice only, under expert guidance.¹

Inputs

• Hardiness zone 4¹
• Hardiness zone 5¹
• Hardiness zone 6¹
• Hardiness zone 7¹
• Hardiness zone 8¹
• Full sun¹
• Semi-shade¹
• Moist soil¹

Outputs

• Human food¹
• Medicinal use¹

Type

• Vine
• Perennial

Footnotes

1. Tamus communis | Plants for a Future ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹