I love useless facts, but why White Bryony? It began with a visit to the Tutankhamen Exhibition where I purchased an ancient Egyptian herbal by Lise Manniche. I have no wish to become a poor man’s Caroline Wheeler but, perhaps inspired by her herbalist’s articles, I decided to look at more modem uses of some Egyptian herbs and picked on White Bryony for attention, more or less at random. It is, of course, native to Suffolk, and Simpson records it as ‘frequent’ in hedges etc.(1982). It is easily recognised with its long climbing stalks, five-lobed leaves and greenish-white flowers producing attractive, but highly poisonous, red berries. They contain bryonin, tannin and a volatile oil. It was first recorded in Suffolk by Sir John Cullum in 1773. (I wrote a note on Sir John in White Admiral 68. pp 24-25)

White Bryony belongs to the melon family (Cucurbitaceae) and its scientific name is Bryonia critica L. ssp. dioica (Jacq.) Tutin. Why the name? Geoffrey Grigson explains that brionia is medieval Latin, and bryonia or vitis alba was Latin for ‘white vine’. The ancient Greek was bruonia or ampelos leuke. Greek bruein means ‘grow luxuriantly’.

Similarly, Phillips & Foy (1990) suggest Greek brya meaning ‘to thrust or sprout’. The name dioica comes from ‘dioiecious’, meaning separate male and female plants. As for critica, criticus is a critic, but I do not see the connection.

In Egyptian hieroglyphs it was written

and for good measure, in modern Egyptian Arabic

- meaning ‘grapes of life’. ( Please excuse my poor hand writing.)

What medicinal use has been made of White Bryony ? In England in 1749 it was used as a ‘uterine detergent’, and to relieve dropsy, rheumatism and sciatica amongst other complaints in northern Europe. It may have worked, if only because the patient believed in the treatment. However, it is a violent purgative and emetic, as the ancient Romans and Greeks knew and, with all parts of the plant highly poisonous, it must not be used for self medication.

Doctors in ancient Egypt had a high reputation and carried out advanced surgery. They successfully used many plant extracts and a surprisingly large number of the plants they used are recognised by modem herbal medicine. However, they also relied on ‘magic’ and occasionally included suspect materials such as hippopotamus, wolf’s or fly dung. Several potions involving White Bryony have survived. For example, a remedy to treat ‘urination rush’ included it with rush, dates, honey and juniper berries. It may well have worked, but it is impossible to determine scientifically why (particularly with human patients) from any such mixture. For a start, I understand that honey has real antibiotic properties and the Egyptians used it a lot for preserving the living and the dead.

It is unlikely that any valuable chemical will ever be extracted from White Bryony. Let it remain a beautiful plant in our hedgerows.

References
Grigson, G. (1973). A dictionary of English plant names. Allen Lane.

Manniche, L. (1989). An ancient Egyptian herbal. British Museum Press.

Phillips, R. & Foy, N. (1990). Herbs. Pan books.

Simpson, F.W. (1982). Simpson’s flora of Suffolk. S.N.S.