View source for White Bryony

{{globalise|date=May 2010}}
{{Taxobox
| image = Bryony_(Bryonia_alba)_foliage.jpg‎
| image_width = 200px
| image_caption = Mature White Bryony Foliage.
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| subregnum = [[Tracheobionta]]
| phylum = [[Spermatophyta]]
| subphyum = [[Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| subclassis = [[Dilleniidae]]
| ordo = [[Violales]]
| familia = [[Cucurbitaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Bryonia]]''
| species = '''''B. alba'''''
| binomial = ''Bryonia alba''
| binomial_authority = L.
}}

'''White Bryony''' ('''''Bryonia alba''''') is a vigorous vine with major destructive potential to native vegetation, forest communities, vineyards, and farmland. Similar to [[Kudzu]] in habit, it forms dense mats which shade out the vegetation it grows upon.

== Description ==

An [[herbaceous]], [[perennial]] vine of the cucumber family, white bryony is [[monoecious]] but [[diclinous]] (separate male and female flowers found on the same plant) with a tuberous yellow root.<ref name="Noxious Weed Control Board">http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weed_info/written_findings/bryonia_alba.html</ref> Greenish-white flowers are 1&nbsp;cm across.  Long curling tendrils, flowers, and fruit all stem from axils of palmately lobed leaves.<ref name="Noxious Weed Control Board"/>  The fruit is a 1.5&nbsp;cm berry which blackens as it ripens, and seeds of which are disseminated by birds.<ref name="Noxious Weed Control Board"/>

''Bryonia alba'' spreads by seed.

White bryony thrives in full sun. Due to birds depositing seeds where they like to eat and nest, bryony is prevalent in native hawthorn patches and in windbreak, shelterbelt, riparian buffer, and wildlife plantings.<ref name="Whitman">http://www.whitman.wsu.edu/weeds/whitebryony.html</ref>

'''Common names:''' Kudzu of the Northwest, Devil’s Turnip, English Mandrake.<ref name="Botanical.com: A Modern Herbal">http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/brywhi77.html</ref>

==Distribution ==
[[Image:USDA Map White Byrony (Bryonia alba) North American Disribution.png‎|thumb|250|left|White Bryony Dispersal in North America. (Green indicates presence in state.)]] White bryony is native to Europe and Northern Iran. It was first reported in the United States in 1975.<ref name="Noxious Weed Control Board"/> It probably arrived as a medicinal plant; used to induce vomiting, the plant and berries are poisonous to people. Forty berries constitutes a lethal dose for adult humans.<ref name="Palouse">http://www.palouseprairie.org/bryonia_alba/</ref>

Currently identified in only four states ([[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]], [[Idaho]], [[Montana]], and [[Wyoming]]) this invasive species is declared a [http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weed_list/weed_list.htm Class B noxious weed]. This classification indicates that bryony is already abundant in many areas. Containment is the goal in those areas, but it is to be prevented/eradicated in new regions.

== Invasive characteristics==

[[Image:White bryony mat of vegatation.jpg‎|thumb|Bryony Plant Growth Smothers Host]]

This [[invasive weed]] grows aggressively; it can produce three vines at a time, which each grow up to 15&nbsp;cm per day.<ref name="Montana">http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=7353</ref> Since the growth pattern of the vine leads it to climb, it emulates the growth pattern of kudzu, and will also simply grow into a mat when it cannot climb. Once it establishes itself, it will climb other plants and trees as well as fences and buildings. Effectively blocking the sun and even rain from its host, the dense shade of the bryony eventually destroys what it covers. If not the lack of sun, then winter snow or heavy rains weighing down the mat of bryony create too much extra weight leading to breakage of host limbs or even felling of entire host trees.

== Dispersal ==

Birds proved the greatest dispersal mechanism by disseminating seeds. Birds eating the berries deposit seeds beneath other shrubs and fences which provide optimal structures for new Bryony plants to climb.
[[Image:Bryony Berries.jpg|thumb|Berries of White Bryony are Readily Dispersed by Birds]]

== Control ==

Control of bryony through tillage is problematic because bryony grows close to the base of the supporting plant and tilling would harm the host plant's roots.

Simply cutting off bryony vines is ineffective because the bryony plant grows back from the root.

===Chemical===

Broadleaf herbicides such as [[Roundup]] can be useful, but care must be taken to pull Bryony away from host plant, and multiple applications are necessary to eventually move herbicide to the root and block production of new shoots.

===Manual===

[[Image:Young bryony (Bryonia alba) plant.jpg‎|thumb|250|right|Young Bryony Plant]]
The most effective method of eradicating bryony requires vigilance. By scouting for new white bryony plants every year, and cutting/removing new growth immediately and repeatedly throughout the growing season, one can return in the autumn to locate and sever roots of new plants. In order to kill a plant, the roots must be severed 7 to 10&nbsp;cm below ground surface to remove the crown and prevent re-sprouting.<ref name="Whitman"/>

The dispersed seeds are viable for many years. Manually removing ''B. alba'' before seed production is paramount to successful management.

===Biological control===
There is currently no known biological control for bryony , although it may be used as a food plant by the larvae of [[Cabbage Moth]].

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

[[Category:Poisonous plants]]
[[Category:Invasive plant species]]
[[Category:2Fix]]